Maynath frowns. "I can't imagine any of the other Lords being behind this," she says. "They may have their disagreements, but they've always been civil in the past, even when Lord Sain pushed his most radical proposals. Why now? Why stop the investigation of Witten Asylum, specifically?"

"They could be playing a long game," says Bartholomew. "Off him now, throw suspicion on the asylum, and he won't be around to make any more radical proposals in the future."

"I don't know," says Maynath. "The thing is, the asylum's practices really have been very shady—I'm sure if you canvassed the neighborhood, you'd hear all sorts of horror stories from the people here. On the other hand, the Lords of Enlightenment tend to undermine their political rivals by building coalitions to vote against them, or blocking votes with filibusters. A couple have been accused of giving or taking bribes, but that's the worst of it, as far as I know. Disappearing people isn't their M.O."