The old red-sand road climbs northeast beneath a dimming sky. Ban Hammer leads with the surrendered letters secured, while Caldus, Stella, Rosa, and Dolly follow under his supervision.
Saint Orra’s Mile appears beside a weathered milestone: a low wayhouse of sun-baked stone, its door marked by a split, notched tally hanging from a leather cord.
Caldus
That is Meret’s sign, Warden. The split tally records a debt or delivery, likely the matter described behind the sealed letters.
The notches match the route marks Ban Hammer read, but the tally names no culprit. The letters establish a destination and a warning, not guilt for those in his custody.
Rosa Lewis
Then the evidence against us remains incomplete. The correspondence brought us here, but it does not identify who broke the law.
Stella Nabokov
A destination, a warning, and a mysterious tally. That is a splendid beginning, but hardly a conviction.
Dolly
We will remain supervised while the wayhouse keeper explains the rest. I will keep my hands visible and disturb nothing.
Establish whether the aperture letter is reliable evidence against the prisoners
Obtain Sister Meret’s testimony
+ New Item Acquired
Sealed Letters