I sent a very confused Academy Leader Darkwater back to his seat.

“If we could proceed with the witnesses in order,” I said sharply, “This will all make sense.”

Academy Leader Darkwater ‘interrupting’ had provided exactly the right kind of spectacle that I had been aiming for. I had intentionally provoked it. But I didn’t have to let him know. Let everyone think the near accusation of murder had been entirely his own fault. But I want them thinking about that accusation. More importantly, I wanted Academy Leader Darkwater thinking about it.

The audience was still restless when I brought in the next witness, but I managed to regain the attention of most of them with my first question.

“Assistant Oxenden asked you to examine the lock on the door to the old breeding grounds, correct?” I asked. “What have you discovered?”

“Yes, Hero Percy,” said the witness. “The lock has been altered so that it doesn’t lock.”

Immediate pandemonium. They didn’t know what it had to do with the murder, but that wasn’t important. What was important was that the lock didn’t work. Their fortress wasn’t secured at all. Anyone could have simply walked in, and no-one would have even known. I waited out the noise, and then swapped the order of questions to reassure them that the door was now secure. They were finally convinced that there was nothing they needed to do immediately, and we could continue with the presentation. I walked through the explanation of how the trick worked, the technical difficulty in altering it that way, and how it had been designed to revert invisibly to normal function within days. This had not been an accident, but it didn’t seem to be a precursor to an attack, either.

The audience was confused by the recall of the butcher as a witness, but they were already expecting something.

“Ignoring all reports of the actions of the deceased dragon,” I said, “were there any signs of Mad Dragon Disease? And would you expect there to be?”

I had the results already, of course, in one of the notes Assistant Oxenden had been feeding back to me. This was one of the elements I was thrilled to be able to weave into my narrative instead of having it trip me up later.

“I would have expected to see extensive damage to the brain region,” he said. “We didn’t find any.”

The sigh from the audience was almost resigned. After a few follow up questions, I passed the role of speaker to Assistant Altengart. I would have asked him for a suggestion for an unconnected witness if I’d known the exact terminology in advance. Instead, I’d had to pass him a note of my own, and he’d agreed to speak. He briefly detailed about the behaviour of a mature dragon that was lure-drunk. He explained increased aggression, decreased tolerance for humans and other dragons, and impulsive behaviour. That didn’t describe the actions of the dragon on the bonding grounds, but there was no-one but me who knew different.

“The dragon didn’t attack because it suffered from Mad Dragon Disease,” I said. “It approached because it was lure-drunk. Someone with great magical skill broke the lock in order to have access to the bonding grounds. They secretly took dragon lure from the stores and laced the grounds with it. If things had been slightly different, the attack would not have occurred while only there was only one target. It would have occurred in the middle of the bonding ceremony.”

I looked at each of the key players in turn. “Academy Leader Darkwater had a motive to preside over a successful bonding ceremony in his own section. He did not have the motive to preside over a bloody tragedy.”

Moving right along to something lighter before they noticed that wasn’t actually much of an argument. Let Academy Leader Darkwater be both relieved and concerned. I’d be calling back him back later. In fact, I would be calling back a number of the previous witnesses, and I started with the destiny-weaver.

“Could you explain how the waterproof ritual interacts with the wards? Just the effect, not the theory,” I added hurriedly.

“The wards weaken it,” he said. “Weaken it slowly over the course of hours. Then, if exposed to water, it only lasts a brief period until it fails completely.”

“Would people who spend time at the academy know this?” I asked.

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“Perhaps not the newest students,” he said. “It’s somewhat of a tradition with the kids not to tell them in the hopes of watching them get drenched in the first solid rain.”

What a charming place this was.

> I think this is strong evidence that, whatever else, His Devotion, Saint Percival the Investigator, never attended a boarding school or other communal living when he was a child. Expecting massed children to refrain from pranks is expecting water to flow uphill.

I asked, “Could the magic you detected on the suicide note be the result of a failed waterproof ritual?”

“Absolutely,” he said. “It was clearly exposed to water at some point.”

I excused him again and voiced the conclusion. “We assumed that the note had been wet to help conceal any imperfections. Perhaps it was simply wet because the ice melted, and the waterproofing failed.”

I left the implication that the caster could not be familiar with the academy unstated. I wasn’t quite ready to use that information yet. Two more witnesses to go before that.

“You are in charge of the Chasm View sitting room, correct?” I asked the staff member. “What is the typical treatment of opening or closing the curtains?”

That was the sitting room I’d started thinking of as ‘mine’. I had only discovered today had a real name.

“Yes, Hero Percy,” he said. “The room is typically cleaned between the third and fourth hour. The curtains will be left open after cleaning.”

“If a room is given extra attention for a meeting in the evening, and the curtains were already closed, would they then be opened?” I asked.

“No, Hero Percy.” He sounded very certain. “Staff would not make any specific attempt to close them, but barring specific instructions, we would not re-open them after sunset.”

I took care with the next question. It wouldn’t do if the staff member dropped the name early. “Do you recall the meeting late Friday evening involving the heroes? Do you recall being asked to close the curtains at that time?”

“Yes, Hero Percy, I do,” he said, and I immediately cut him off before he could continue.

I think that particular staff member thought I was completely insane as I dismissed him. The audience had an interesting split between those who recalled the incident and those who didn’t. It was interesting calculation to make. Those who had figured out what I was implying. And those who had figured out what I was implying and agreed with me.

Final witness before the reveal. I called for the academy healer.

“You attended the initial purification ceremony, correct?” I asked. “What were you doing in the hour before that? That is, between the first and second hour of Friday night?”

The healer hadn’t heard any of the previous testimony and was unaware that this wasn’t a standard question asked of everyone. The audience knew better, and I could feel the confusion in speculation in the rustling of clothing and squeaking of chairs.

“Yes,” the healer answered easily. “Before the ceremony, I had an emergency clinic. There was an illness going around that’s resistant to magic.”

“Ah yes,” I said. “I believe some of the students were still bed bound on Saturday?”

“Unfortunately,” he agreed. “Thankfully, most of them are back on their feet now.”

I smiled politely in reply. “I have a few practical questions I was hoping you could help us with. I’m aware that it is hard to be absolute about these types of things, but if you could just give us a general idea of the most likely answer.”

“Of course, Hero Percy,” he said.

“If we take someone of Candidate Bethany’s size, how easy would it be to knock them unconscious? Could it be done reliably and quietly?”

“It depends on how you mean it,” he said, frowning. “And for how long. If the attacker doesn’t care if the victim dies, then it’s just a matter of enough force. If the attacker needs to keep them alive, but only needs them unconscious for a few moments, such as in a prize fight, then it’s possible, but hardly quiet. Prize fighters do still die anyway, either immediately or later on, but it is less common.”

“Would it be possible to render someone unconscious for more than an hour?” I asked.

He shook his head. “I won’t want to say it was entirely impossible, but on the whole, I’d have to say ‘no’. A blow significant enough to do that much damage is significant enough to kill. If it worked at all, it would be the purest luck.”

> Although it does not occur to His Devotion, Saint Percival the Investigator, to ask, this is true for magic attacks as well. This seems to be universally true across all worlds. There is no risk-free way of rendering someone unconscious, and extensive medical knowledge is required to even try. Do not believe anyone who claims to have a harm free way of subduing people.

“There is a spell that healers use to put a patient to sleep in order to prevent them from feeling discomfort, correct?” I asked. “Would that render someone unconscious for that length of time?”

“Yes,” said the healer. “There is a variant intended for treating significant internal injuries that would last that long.”

Now, finally, after all of that – the name. “Who in this academy at this time has authorisation to use that spell?”

“Myself, and Minister Greenfield.”

I had to conceal my grin. Even if it didn’t truly take many of my audience by surprise, the gasps of outrage were entertaining to hear. Adrenaline coursed through me again, but this time it was the fun kind.

Memo to Self

- Survive [success!]

- Bluff my way out of my escape attempt

- - Distract by presenting a theory for Bethany's death