Snippet #2816231

Andrijana had been partway through lunch when the call had come, and she had taken it out of sheer curiosity if nothing else. "I - ah, yes, a book. I'll ... I'll be sure to look for it." Something in her tone changed and had become deferential, as though even without a formal or official introduction, she'd intuited the nature of the call - or at least what it seemed to signify, even if she couldn't quite decipher the exact meaning. "I'm sorry, Minister Vilhjálmsdóttir didn't mention exactly who was calling...?" She hoped that it was not a friend or ally of Shimizu's - after all, if only from how Hokushin and Yukiko had both made clear, it would be easy for Shimizu to attempt to arrange her untimely death.

"I'm not sure I know what you're referring to, your highness," said Þorgerður, looking puzzled. "I've only ever met Dr. Krstevska two or three times. Do you mean to say that you've heard something about the prisons department? It'd be Director Smruti Boisvert-Panelo who's responsible for the prisons department. And I haven't heard any complaints about her before." She glanced at Dvořák again, willing him to say something to help, but he was staring off toward the window. "Did Princess Yukiko observe something unethical taking place while visiting?"