S2

Oreilli is waiting for me when I get back. He’s nervous. “Heya. Can we talk?” He has a black eye. I hear Cord explained his displeasure to Oreilli. I don’t have a problem with that.

I decide he needs a stroll out to the Waterfall Trail.

“Ey, I’m sorry for—” he begins on the way there.

I interrupt him. “I don’t want sorry, Oreilli. I want concrete steps on changing. According to Ambassador Ekard, you had a rough youth. I treat that as zero excuse. So should you. You and Genni are done. Put your efforts into your upcoming life habits.”

Oreilli gives a vague nod. We reach the Waterfall in silence.

There, Oreilli pulls out his listening device. “This was on when Angi fell. She was close to where I had it hidden when she fell. Listen.”

I hear a few random noises, then a momentary slice of something loud. “What is that?”

“I checked it with a sound parser,” says Oreilli. “It’s voice. It’s Angi. Must be the beginning of a scream or a shout before it’s cut off.”

“I assume that was the moment she slipped,” I say.

He stabs a finger outward. “Neh! I did the gravity math to when Ezebel shouts as Angi hits the floor. This scream happens around twenty seconds before she must slip. And now listen...”

I hear vague, faint noises. But no scream or shout or even gasp.

Oreilli plays it again. “There’s the actual moment Angi falls. Right then, says my gravity math. A full twenty seconds after you hear that bit of scream. And no real sounds when she actually does.”

Draw a small Julius Caesar astride a rampant war steed in the “Artiste” box.