On my way to the police bureau from the inn, I’d come to the thatch huts and towering trees near the southern fortress wall. With a sturdy branch, I’d pushed at the mud around the crime scene. Nothing. A fallen pendant could have washed away into the gutters in the heavy rain. It could be anywhere.
Still, at least I’d returned with one certainty—a sliver of Inspector Han’s story. Ky?n had forced his suspicion onto an innocent man. Wanting to lay before the inspector the secrets I’d withheld from him, I whispered, “Inspector, may I have permission to speak?”
“Speak.”
I clutched my hands tightly and stared at the sword by his side. “The man Maid Soyi saw that night was—was—” Do not be afraid, I reminded myself, Inspector Han is an honorable officer. “She saw you on the night of her mistress’s disappearance.”
Inspector Han’s expression remained as blank as paper. “I was returning home after having drinks with Senior Officer Shim Jaedeok,” he replied slowly. “I believe I did encounter one woman, but I did not know it was Maid Soyi. I had one too many drinks to remember clearly.”
“Oh, I see … I’m sorry, sir.”
“For what?” A note of surprise edged his voice.
“For not going straight to you after what Officer Ky?n told me.”
“And why did you not?”
“I was afraid, sir.”
“You were afraid of me, and you are sorry for having questioned me.” He had taken the vagueness out of my words and laid the truth before us. “Do you know what it means to be a true detective, Seol?”
“No, sir.”
“A true detective should not have feelings involved when investigating a crime. The truth is far more important, and that is what you pursued. The truth. So do not be sorry.”
I bowed my head, hiding my flushed cheeks. I still couldn’t believe that Ky?n had managed to slip a thorn of doubt into me. Scheming and petty Ky?n, the last person I should have listened to.
“Is there anything else you wish to ask? Or tell me?”
“No, sir.” Then a memory splashed me with a cold reminder. “Actually, one more thing, sir. Soyi confided in me that Lady O was a Catholic.”
His expression turned to rock. “What?”
Had I done wrong? In panic, I babbled, “Lady O became a Catholic two years ago. She told her mother that she valued this teaching over blood relation. I learned of this because Maid Soyi had mentioned before that the lowborn class was man-made. When I questioned her, she confessed the truth, about how this remark was inspired by her mistress’s Catholic learning.”
“A Catholic…” In the inspector’s voice, the word alone carried the weight of iron. “Damo Seol, do you know why your discovery changes everything?”
“No, sir,” I replied breathlessly.
“With Catholicism comes rumors that a thousand foreign ships will dock along the coast between Bupyeong and Inchon Prefecture. Do you wish for our kingdom to be invaded by foreigners from the West?”
I did not know much about the West; all I knew was that I disliked change. “Absolutely not, sir.”
“Neither do I. For more than a hundred years, we have held our seclusion against Japanese warlords and encroaching Western powers, though now I am left to wonder whether it was all for naught.” He was only twenty-seven winters old, yet the graying hair behind his ear made him look a decade older, a decade wearier. “Lady O is the daughter of a Southerner, so I suppose I oughtn’t be surprised that she was a heretic.”
“From what I’ve heard, sir, the Southerners are the ones who first spread this learning. Is that true?”
“It is. And there is a reason why being the daughter of a Southerner attracts danger. You are a girl, so you may be unaware of politics—the controversy surrounding the Indong Revolt.”
“I know of it, sir,” I rushed to answer.
“Do you?” Interest lit his voice. “Tell me what you know.”
Ever since Lady Kang had shared with me the reason behind the pending Catholic persecution, my eavesdropping ears had grown sensitive to rumors about the revolt that had occurred a week ago. I drew from the well of stolen knowledge and shared all that I’d learned.
“Members of the Southerner faction, believing the king poisoned by the Old Doctrine with the help of the Queen Regent Jeongsun, raided the Indong administrative office in outrage. The regent executed all those involved. Now no one dares slander the new ruler.”
“You are correct. And the execution is a sign of a massive political