News spreads that the MCRN destroyer Scipio Africanus annihilated the small prospector Xinglong, inflaming Belt–Mars tensions. On Ceres, a Martian-born citizen, Enrique Dos Santos, is found tortured and nailed to a wall near water reclamation, a clear act of political terror. Detective Miller and his new partner, Octavia Muss, note the area cameras were conveniently broken and begin tracing where Dos Santos was held.

Back at Star Helix, Miller sends a form notification to Dos Santos’ wife on Ganymede and sees the incident board overflowing as violence rises. He asks Captain Shaddid to request Mars’ debriefing of Jim Holden, hoping for clues to Julie Mao, but Shaddid refuses, asserting Mars’ guilt and ordering Miller to focus on station stability over his side investigation.

Muss locates footage of three Belters carrying an orange container from a warehouse; forensics and logs point to Dos Santos being tortured there. The suspects already shipped out—filed for Io—and Muss flags them on interstation alerts. The pair clear several more assaults before end of shift, symptomatic of escalating unrest.

On his commute, Miller wrestles with his duty to keep Ceres calm versus the larger threat of war and the unanswered questions around the Scopuli. He concludes that the truth’s risk can’t be judged without finding it.

Anderson Dawes meets Miller at his hole and hands over a filmdrive: the riot gear was “signed out” by a fake sergeant to a nonexistent unit and shipped via a freighter registered to the Corporaçõ do Gato Preto. Docking and mass records imply an off-station transfer, indicating organized crime moved both equipment and personnel.

Dawes asks Miller to drop the Julie Mao hunt; Miller agrees, saying he wouldn’t have dragged Julie home anyway. After Dawes leaves, Miller immediately records an encrypted message to Julie’s father, quietly continuing the search despite Shaddid’s orders and his promise to Dawes.