Dreyfus had closed half the distance to the middle of the supreme prefect's office when the safe-distance tether jerked him to a halt. For a moment Jane Aumonier appeared unaware of his presence, absorbed in one of her wall displays. He coughed quietly before speaking.

"If you want my resignation, it's yours.". Aumonier turned her head to face him, without moving the rest of her body.

"On what grounds, Tom?".

"You name it. If I committed an error of procedure, or was guilty of improper judgement, you only have to say the word.".

"If you committed an error, it was in not going far enough to defend yourself and your deputies. What was the final body count?".

"Six," Dreyfus said.

"We've done worse. Perigal was always going to be a tough nut. A single-figure body count strikes me as entirely acceptable, given all that we could have expected.".

"I was hoping things wouldn't get quite so messy.".

"That was Perigal's call, not yours.".

"I still don't think we're finished with her. What she said to me … " Dreyfus paused, certain that Aumonier had enough to worry about without being burdened with his doubts.

"I feel as if a debt has been settled. That isn't a good way for a prefect to feel.".

"It's human.".

"She got away with it in the past because we weren't clever or fast enough to audit her before the evidence turned stale. But even if we'd been able to pin anything on her, her crimes wouldn't have merited a full century of lockdown.".

"And we don't know that it will come to that this time, either.".

"You think she'll slip through again?".

"That'll depend on the evidence. Time to make use of that bright new expert on your team."

"I have every confidence in Thalia."

"Then you've nothing to fear. If Perigal's guilty, the state of lockdown will continue. If the evidence doesn't turn anything up, House Perigal will be allowed re-entry into the Glitter Band.".