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Bart turned and started to walk away, but instead stopped about halfway across the large living room. “I’m going to handle this with the Consortium, then I’m going to try to speak to Mirilla again. I don’t like the way we left things.”

Quin simply watched him expressionlessly.

“I know we made poor choices. But I also believe that she is innocent of all she’s accused of. She didn’t have anything to do with this.”

Quin gave a slight shake of his head as he pressed his lips together in preparation of launching into all the reasons he thought Bart was wrong.

But an interruption from Ba Re’ surprised them all. “He’s right.”

Bart turned his head to look at Ba Re’, surprised at his statement. “Thank you.”

“What?!” Quin demanded of Ba Re’.

“I agree with Bart and Ba Re’,” Eula said, walking into the living room from the downstairs bedroom Quin and Vivi were using at the moment.

“I cannot believe that after everything I laid out for each of you that you can’t see the connections that are clearly there,” Quin said angrily.

“Had any one of you stopped trying to force the other to see things your way, allowed your tempers to calm and actually listened to anything the female tried to say, you’d already know they’re right. She is innocent,” Ba Re’ insisted. “And just to be clear, I can follow your logic. I can see why you think she’s involved. But I also know that she was telling you the truth. She fucked up. They fucked up, her and Bart, but she was not involved with this. She was so distraught at the accusations leveled against her and the fact that no one was listening to a word she was saying that she stopped defending herself. She stated her position clearly one last time, then just stopped.”

“And that’s how you know she was being truthful?” Quin asked sarcastically.

“No. I know she was being truthful because I watched her. I listened to her words. I saw her body language. I SCENTED no lie! She did not lie! And all of you were so busy trying to prove your points and speak over each other that no one bothered to use their senses to determine her honesty. If you had, you'd have known that she was not involved,” Ba Re’ said.

“Maybe she can disguise a lie,” Quin said. “Some have mastered it.”

“Indeed. Jhan can,” Ba Re’ said.

“Hey!” Jhan snapped, looking angrily at Ba Re’.

“And that is exactly the reason I went to her room. I spoke to her. I turned the conversation to a place that would require her to lie to me, and when she did, I scented her lie with no problem. She’s telling the truth. She was not involved,” Ba Re’ insisted, crossing his arms over his chest to indicate that he was finished with all he had to say.

“I told you I didn’t believe that she was involved, that I just couldn’t see it!” Bart exclaimed.

Quin didn’t respond right away. He was too busy considering all Ba Re’ had said. He respected Ba Re’, even this new Ba Re’, and the male didn’t lie. You might not like what he had to say, but he didn’t lie. Finally he decided on a statement that didn’t really give any information that the others didn’t already have but gave some concession to the fact that he might have been wrong. “I will admit that I was extremely emotional and defensive of my family. I was probably more accusational than I should have been in my rush to find and prosecute those who threatened my family, but it stands to reason that she could have been carelessly responsible, if not directly involved. It is still possible that she was observed, that her behavior is directly responsible for the fact that our home was accessed by those who tried to harm my son!”

“Perhaps parts of it are accurate, but Mirilla wasn’t knowingly involved,” Ba Re’ said.

“Then we must find those who were, and are involved,” Quin said.

“I’m going back to the Sovereign’s office to activate my retrieval teams,” Bart said.

“Perhaps you can try to speak to Mirilla again,” Eula suggested.

“She is so angry she won’t even speak to me,” Bart said. “She won’t open her door, or even speak a word from inside her room. It’s complete silence.”

“She will open for my mother,” Quin said.

“Maybe. Maybe not. She heard you say that she would rot in custody or face execution if she couldn’t prove her innocence,” Bart half-shouted.

“I’ll go to her room. I believe that she will at least speak with me,” Eula said.

“When all of this over, if she is proved to have been speaking the truth, I will personally apologize to her,” Quin said.

“I just told you she was telling the truth,” Ba Re’ said.

“And I believe you believe she is being truthful. But I’m more focused on locating those who can tell me exactly who is responsible and how they did it,” Quin said.

“Suit yourself,” Ba Re’ mumbled.

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