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Mandir what he was up to. “Why did you make up that business about the magic test?”
    He shrugged. “It was just an idea I had.”
    “You moved the droplets yourself.”
    “Of course,” said Mandir. “We don’t want everyone in Hrappa to know you can identify the jackal on sight. So I thought we might like to have a ruse that allows us to look at people without their realizing that looking is all we’re after. If word gets around as to how the test is administered, the jackal might not be frightened of being tested. She knows that by using magic, she can manipulate the drops into falling on the correct side.”
    Taya took a seat at the table. “All right. I’ll grant that’s not a bad idea.”
    The visit to Bodhan’s had been only modestly illuminating. Kana was innocent, and questioning her hadn’t yielded any information beyond what Bodhan had already told them. Kana seemed a submissive, obedient girl who parroted whatever her father told her. She and Mandir had questioned the clerk as well, who had corroborated Bodhan’s tale about the magical flood. To learn more, Taya would have to go to the actual murder site, scry, and hope for a vision from Isatis. She also needed to visit the family of the boy who hadn’t shown up that day. They’d learned his name was Kamber, and he was the son of a baker woman.
    Might it be more productive simply to go door-to-door in Hrappa, looking for the jackal under the pretense of using Mandir’s test for magical ability? She already knew what the jackal looked like. There didn’t seem to be much more Isatis could tell her, although she wouldn’t mind getting a closer look in a second vision.
    Raindrops pattered on the rooftop.
    “There’s our storm,” said Mandir.

Chapter 10: Hrappa
     
    By sunset, the rain had become a downpour. Mandir sat alone on the bed in his guesthouse, bored, disinterested in either food or sleep. It was too bad Taya resented his presence, or he’d spend the evening with her. He wasn’t accustomed to being alone. At the Temple, he’d always had friends around.
    In the distance, a single blast of the horn sounded, which meant the gates were closing in case the river overflowed its banks. All the townsfolk should be inside by now anyway. No Hrappan citizen would be foolish enough to venture outside the walls after dark with a storm rolling in.
    Thunder grumbled in the distance. Mandir moved to the window to see if he might catch a glimpse of the next lightning strike. This storm was more than just Agu’s fury. Isatis was on the rampage as well.
    He should check on Taya, just in case. Not that the storm presented any immediate danger. But he was her quradum , and her safety was his responsibility.
    Opening the courtyard door, he looked outside. The rain fell in diagonal sheets, galloping across the courtyard. At least the distance he had to cover was short. He charged across the courtyard, knocked quickly at Taya’s door, and let himself in, hoping she wasn’t naked inside. All right, he wouldn’t mind if she was naked, but she would mind if he saw her in such a state. He turned around and faced the doorway, just in case.
    “Taya,” he called.
    No answer.
    He turned back around. Taya’s dinner, partially eaten, sat on her table, but the woman herself was nowhere to be seen. Her bed was made, not as neatly as he had made his own, but clearly it had lain untouched since morning.
    “Taya,” he called, louder this time. Perhaps the washroom? He walked around the corner to check, but she was not there either. The house was tiny, and he’d searched the entire place.
    Why would she leave the guesthouse in the middle of a storm? The gates were closing, and she would not work on the case without him—she ought not to, anyway. She hadn’t expressed a need to buy anything. Her food was provided for her, and all the shops in the artisan district would be closed.
    Did she have a secret lover in Hrappa?
    No. That was ludicrous. She’d only