Ana confronts Gorthaus and lays out a full theory of the smuggling operation. Ana argues that a brilliant raider in the swamps needed small but precise observations about Apoth shipping, and that the Treasury delegation’s tower gave someone at the Treasury a clear view of the bay. Because an engraver can remember everything perfectly, Ana identifies Gorthaus as the ideal observer who could watch ship movements and preserve the details.

Ana then explains that the smuggler also needed a court liaison to carry those observations from Old Town to the swamps. Ana says the timing of the raids proves this, because the smugglers never struck during the first week of the month, exactly when the Treasury delegation met the court in the High City and could make the exchange. Ana strengthens her accusation by pointing out that Gorthaus described the passages around the king’s hall and reliquary in suspicious detail, even though other witnesses had said no previous imperial visitors were allowed there, implying Gorthaus had been meeting someone secretly inside those sacred rooms.

Once Ana has cornered her, Ana threatens Gorthaus with a search of her chambers and a thief’s death unless she confesses. Ana says her immediate concern is not the king’s murder but the six stolen crates of dangerous reagents, which Ana believes have passed from the smuggler into the hands of Gorthaus’s court contact. Under pressure, Gorthaus begins to break, saying she never meant for anyone to die and implying that she was blackmailed after the attacks began. She demands a promise that she will live before she gives the name.

Before Gorthaus can speak, her distress changes from panic to physical collapse. Din and Malo notice that Gorthaus’s left hand has turned purple and swollen, and Malo cuts away the sleeve to reveal a badly inflamed arm and a tiny puncture-like wound. Malo identifies the attack as kerel poisoning delivered by a small stab or sting and says the poison has likely already reached Gorthaus’s heart. Realizing that the poisoner struck during the interrogation and must still be inside the palace, Ana calls for Darhi and orders the entire castle locked down and everyone searched.