The girl frowned. "But, Grimm, you just said you believed he did it. Now you're saying you don't. I don't understand. If he tried to snuff the old man, what difference does it make how he did it? Perhaps he was acting… in the heat of the moment, or something. Men don't always think things through too clearly, do they?"

Grimm laughed, although he saw little humour in the situation.

"A Guild Mage isn't like ordinary men, and a Mage Questor is even less so. You don't get to be a forty-year-old Questor of the Seventh Rank by acting on impulse," he said. "It's something I'm often guilty of, but I'm trying as hard as I can to eradicate it. I'll have to if I want to make old bones. Otherwise, sooner or later, some stupid mistake'll catch me out, and it could be fatal.

"Granfer Loras was an old hand, and he'd been on dozens of difficult and dangerous Quests. You can be sure he never acted just on the spur of the moment. And with an infinite number of spells potentially at his command-invisible, undetectable spells-you can bet he'd never have chosen to push a pillow in the old man's face. Not unless he wanted to be caught, and I don't believe that.

"The only other explanation I can think of is that someone-a single mage with unbelievable magical power, or a group of mages acting in concert-ensorcelled him into doing what he did." Grimm hissed through his teeth in an attempt to dispel the tension within him. "Everyone in the House expected Granfer to succeed Geral as Prelate. From what I heard, he wouldn't have had to wait long. He didn't need to take the risk of assassinating the old man just to get him out of the way… and even if his motivation was pure mercy, why did he choose such a blatant, obvious method? Geral couldn't have put up any resistance; Granfer could have stopped his weak heart in a second with a quick, merciful spell, instead of trying to smother him. He wouldn't even have had to leave his room.