She read his expression and gave a light laugh. “Kresimir, no. This is not common knowledge, of course. In fact, few people outside this room know about it. Tamas is one of them. I tell you only in the hope that it helps remove me as a suspect in your mind. Tamas and I are kindred spirits. I would never want him dead.”
Adamat let his eyes travel over the four mercenary commanders. They stared back at him, unblinking, sharp as hawks.
“Did you tell anyone, even the closest of confidants, about the meeting of the council?”
“No,” Lady Winceslav said, her chin raised. “Tamas forbade it. Not even my brigadiers knew.” She shot them a glance. “Much to their chagrin.”
Adamat asked a few more basic questions before he sat back and folded his hands in his lap. He struggled to hide a grimace. Nothing. Winceslav was a lady through and through. Polite and charming, and her cards held close to her chest. That bit about her husband buying the duchy… Adamat was sure that any of her enemies who could have used that against her were taken to the guillotine last month.
“Thank you for being so forthright,” Adamat said, careful to inject the proper amount of sincerity into his tone. “I do appreciate it.” He turned to the butler, who had just entered the room. “Is the manor’s staff gathered?”
The aged man gave a curt nod.
Adamat stood as Lady Winceslav did. The brigadiers followed suit. Adamat took her offered hand and touched his forehead to it. “I will finish with your staff as quickly as possible.”
“My staff and manor grounds are yours for the day, Inspector,” she said.
“One last thing, my lady.” Adamat paused in the doorway. “Do you have reason to suspect any of the other members of the council?”
Lady Winceslav paused halfway to her chair. She sat back down. “None that come immediately to mind. Charlemund is a man of Kresimir. I would never suspect the vice-chancellor; Prime is an old family friend—a scholar. The Proprietor must be at the top of your list. He is a criminal, after all, despite his connections. I’d heard that Ondraus and Tamas have been arguing about the city ledgers for weeks, though I’m sure there’s nothing more to that.” She frowned. “I did hear that Ricard Tumblar sent a delegation from his union to Kez just after the coup. Seems he wants to start a chapter there.”
Lady Winceslav rose and bid him good day. The brigadiers filed out behind her, leaving him alone with the butler.
Adamat interviewed the house staff and groundskeepers for hours before he moved outside and began to walk around the manor grounds. SouSmith joined him outside, looking almost as if he’d burst through the chest of his new suit of clothes.
“Well?” SouSmith asked.
“She is a capable old vixen,” Adamat said. “Despite what her brigadiers want us to think.” He glanced over his shoulder. Brigadier Barat and Brigadier Abrax had appeared from a side door after he exited the house. They made no effort to conceal that they were following him and SouSmith. Adamat spied an outbuilding some ways off and veered into a field toward it, just to see how far the brigadiers would follow them.
“The brigadiers are very protective of her. I think it is more likely one of them betrayed Tamas, rather than that she did—though she claims none of them knew the location of the meeting. Of course, that doesn’t rule out that she was spied upon, or even…” He mulled over the idea before speaking it out loud. “Or even spoke in her sleep.”
SouSmith gave him a look.
“I cannot rule out the idea,” Adamat said, “however improper, that she’s sleeping with one or more of her brigadiers. I don’t see her as the type to bed a woman, so that rules out Abrax. Sabastenien and Barat are both handsome young men, while Ryze has a particular grizzled quality that women of all ages find attractive.”
They followed an old track as it looped toward the horse stables and out of sight of the manor house through a thick forest. The two brigadiers remained a comfortable distance behind them.
“Not one of the staff has seen anything suspicious in the previous two months. They remember Tamas visiting a number of times over the last year, but not once since the coup. There have been no strangers about the place, no one to suggest a Kez agent.” Adamat shook his head. “She will start low on my