However, there were times when corruption was not expedient, times when it was dangerous. For this reason, they had the inspectors. From the county level on up, each level of government had an inspector. While county-level inspectors reported to the provincial inspectors, all inspectors were in principle answerable only to the Emperor himself, the Imperial Counselor and the Palace Assistant Secretary in his role as Inspector General. A commandery-level inspector like Li Fong had special authority to cross county and provincial lines as well as operate within the ranks of the Expeditionary Forces.

Speaking of the Expeditionary Forces, Li Fong was investigating the incident at Heigangcheng when he was abruptly ordered to close the case. It served to effectively confirm his suspicions that the man responsible was Prince Sturla. He was the one with the most to gain from Prince Wusheng's assassination. According to his sources in the Capital, there had been a spate of assassinations following the death of the Emperor. While it could have been a case of several different plots colliding, it was chilling to consider the likelihood that it was all the work of one man.

Li Fong wondered if Prince Sturla himself was the mastermind or if he was merely the pawn of Lord Grima his father. Or perhaps they were equal partners. It did not matter much. Now that Prince Sturla was Emperor, Li Fong's obedience was to him.

He did not understand his current assignment, though. A lone girl, likely dead, whose last known location was the dumping grounds for Heigangcheng. No records, no tracker. Even though he was given her DNA code for identification purposes, he was blocked from running any cross-references. Given the circumstances, it would seem that this girl was Prince Wusheng's assassin. Why else would the Emperor go to such lengths to account for her? It did not make any sense, though. No women were allowed on Heigangcheng, so why send a girl? Why send a girl in any case? Was the idea to lower the Prince's guard? Li Fong did not think the late Prince would have made himself vulnerable even to a nursing babe.

There was no point in thinking about it. His job was to root out corruption, to expose treason, and anything else that was necessary to do these things. He was not in the business of solving mysteries, especially when sticking his nose where it did not belong might result in him facing the charge of treason. All he had to do was find the girl, dead or alive, and that would be the end of it.

The Emperor had other people on the case, people who may have been privy to information he was not. He knew the type. Every noble family had their spy network, but these seemed to be a cut above. Even so, they did not know the area like he did. They were not familiar with the habits of the scavengers. Li Fong knew the places they were likely to go.

The sorry state of communications on the surface made his work all the more difficult. Radio access was tightly restricted. No more than twenty percent of all cities and towns were connected to the telephone network and the telegraph lines only ran alongside the railroads with few exceptions, which meant they barely reached half of all populated areas. He understood the reasons for keeping the Infernals' technology level centuries behind the times, but it could be terribly inconvenient for the Empire's agents trying to do their jobs.

Nothing would come of just waiting for the clues to come to him, so even if it was inefficient, he started making the circuit of the scavengers' favorite haunts. The nearest village to the dumping grounds was a few kilometers away. There was little to be found, but he had to start somewhere and from there he began to work his way out. It was slow work, but necessary. However, it was not this methodical search but a delayed police report that gave him the break he needed.

That brought him to the small town of Xiaochuan, or Rivera as the locals called it. After speaking with the police and finding them as unhelpful and incompetent as pretty much all police on the surface, he then went to the town hospital, which was rather well-equipped by Infernal standards.

Li Fong was sitting at the doctor's desk, waiting for him to come in. When he did, his immediate was anger at the sight of an unknown person occupying his office.

Li Fong stood up. The doctor promptly blanched and the words choked in his throat.

Hastily switching to Celestial, he stammered, "Oh! Ah, ah, forgive me, sir! I, I didn't know!"

Li Fong raised his hand to stop the doctor's groveling. That was the thing he hated about these Charter School graduates. Always so quick to fall over themselves for a Celestial. It was part of the natural order, yes, and it had its uses. It was certainly easier than dealing with the stubborn, rebellious type, but he nevertheless found such sycophants contemptible for their lacking manhood.

Li Fong held up a paper and said, "I have a copy of the release form here. This is your signature, is it not?"

Panicked, the doctor quickly exclaimed, "No!" But he backtracked just as quickly. "I mean, it might be. I may not have been looking closely enough. You have to realize that I'm the only doctor in a hundred kilometers. I have so many patients to attend to, so much paperwork to go with it..."

Dr. Narvaez bobbed his head dutifully.

He gave her up so easily. It was as Li Fong expected. A coward, through and through. No doubt he rationalized it thinking of his importance to the community and the value of the equipment he was permitted to have. That was what he might tell himself, but his motivation was entirely selfish. It was convenient for Li Fong's investigation, but still a poor reflection on human nature. So quick to betray their own for personal gain. These Infernals deserved to be under the boot of their betters.

He went to the boarding house where Carmen Morado lived. It was hardly the most efficient way to quarter the peasantry, but it was a more effective use of space than giving each of them their own house. He knocked on the door and it was answered by a middle-aged woman he assumed was the proprietress.

Upon seeing the crest, the proprietress simply lowered her head and stood aside, saying, "Upstairs. Third door on the right."

When Li Fong entered the house, she closed the door behind him and promptly shuffled off. See no evil, hear no evil. It was another form of Infernal cowardice. They could turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to many things if it spared them the trouble of getting involved. And what sort of coward would Carmen Morado prove to be?

The stairs were narrow even for his feet. Any elderly or infirm boarders would find them quite treacherous, he was sure, but a few less worthless eaters would not hurt these people too much.

The doors to the rooms were not marked, but he had little reason to doubt that the proprietress told him the correct room. He knocked on the door.

Nothing. He knocked again. Still nothing.

After the third time, though, the door opened to reveal Carmen Morado in her nightshirt and dressing gown. Her hair was somewhat in disarray. She must have been sleeping, but it was the middle of the day.

That seemed to wake her up a little.

Li Fong pulled out the Imperial crest again and said, "I answer to a higher authority."

Carmen Morado went quiet for a moment before asking him warily, "What's this about?"

Perhaps a lie like that would be enough to fool the local police, but Carmen Morado did not have a proper appreciation of who she was dealing with. Li Fong took especial pleasure in cornering liars and then picking apart their lies right before their eyes. You never knew just how long they would try to hold up the crumbling edifice of falsehood before it collapsed on their heads.

He began, saying, "It took the hospital ten days to even report the patient to the police and it took the police three days to send someone to the hospital, yet the very next morning, the girl's family arrives to whisk her away, and right around shift change, too."

She was a more nimble thinker than most, Li Fong had to admit, but she would not last much longer.

Carmen Morado could not hide her unease, try as she might. A little more nudging and he would have her.

Without the slightest change in his voice or manner, Li Fong replied, "I could take you somewhere dark and unpleasant and do dark and unpleasant things to you until you tell me what I want to know. That would not be an effective use of my time, however. I have observed that you Infernals can exhibit a surprising resilience and courage. Some of you, at least. That being said, the ones who are capable of great acts of self-sacrifice are often not nearly so willing to sacrifice others.

"My proposal is simple, Señora Morado. You may think you have nothing to lose because your daughter and your husband are dead, but you still have people you care about, people you love. I will take these people and do to them all the things I would do to you and I will have you watch every second of it. Or you can tell me what you did with the girl. I know you are not fool enough to have her here, so where is she?"

Carmen Morado said nothing, but clearly his words had an effect.

He could see her thinking about all the people who would suffer if she chose to defend the girl any longer. As he expected and intended, the cost was too much for her.

Realizing she could not delay the inevitable any longer, she hung her head and said in a low voice, "She's at the Villalobos estancia. In Villalobos."

Li Fong did not say anything. He did not like repeating himself and she had already made him do so too many times for his liking.

She bit her lip, worried about what might happen but knowing she could do nothing about it. Li Fong was done here.

Carmen Morado closed the door without another word. How this would torment her. A little courage is a terrible thing. It is too weak when put to the test, yet it will tirelessly torment you when it fails. Still, it was better than what she would have faced if she continued her resistance. Infernals were such disgusting creatures.