Aralim had an idea, but—before he brought it to Tag’na’s attention—he needed to investigate its viability. As Councillor Soot had said, a lord had been appointed to sift through the large volume of civilian leads to report only the ones with promise. Aralim arrived at the Iron Palace to speak with the appointed lord; the guards directed him to a pavilion set up in the courtyard, partway between the Palace Gate and Fort Marana, which was built into the wall itself adjacent to the Palace proper.
Lord Sunaza was a middle-aged man with thick, brown hair tucked behind his ears and a studious air—albeit stressed by the way he gripped the bridge of his nose and regarded a parchment page in front of him. From the looks of it, there were three piles of documents to follow. He barely looked up as Aralim approached. “Yes?”
“I’ve come to ask you about the civilian involvement in the investigation,” Aralim said. He glanced around for another chair, but Sunaza had the only one. Aralim stepped around the table and stood near Sunaza’s elbow.
The lord craned his neck and twisted to face Aralim. “Oh, Ambassador. Pardon me, how can I help?”
Aralim assured him, “Please, just call me Aralim. I heard we’ve asked our citizens to help in the investigation. I’m curious about how we asked—as well as their response.”
“Well, the announcement was made from the steps on both a Court day and a prayer day. Word gets around when the yard is so packed. Spread like wildfire actually—so they had to hire me.” Sunaza waved a hand at the piles of pages stacked on the table. “The Third Court was getting saturated, you see? So, I get daily reports, ranging from people who don’t like the way their neighbours look, to reports of alleged nighttime meetings in abandoned buildings on the River.”
“But you feel there’s little merit in any of it?” Aralim asked.
Sunaza shifted, uncomfortable by how close Aralim stood. “Well we haven’t caught even one of our enemies yet, have we?” he asked. His eyes narrowed. “Wait… you’re not implying that I’m the reason it has produced little merit, are you?”
“Of course not,” Aralim said. Sunaza was a little peculiar, but he had been given the most tedious of tasks. “I’m just wondering to what extent we could mobilize the public—if they’re a viable tool in this search.”
“Ah yes, I see,” Sunaza realized. “Well, none of my reports have produced anything yet and I’ve been doing this for half a year now. I’ve reported many seemingly useful leads to no avail.”
Aralim nodded. “So overall, people seem motivated to help, maybe even too much so….”
Sunaza nodded, then leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table. He rubbed his eyes with his fingers. “Sometimes it seems we have spirits preying on our guards,” he mumbled.
“Not for much longer, if I have my way,” Aralim said. He doubted Sunaza could give him much more than he already had. The poor man had spent half a year rummaging through petty complaints. Now it was time for Aralim to speak with the Emperor and—hopefully—to do something about their gang problem.