The following is a complete, spoiler-filled summary of the events of An Import of Intrigue
If you do not wish to be spoiled for the events of the book, do not continue reading.
The Murder and the Bear
SATRINE RAINEY and MINOX WELLING, both Inspectors Third Class and partners in the Inemar Stationhouse of the Maradaine Constabulary, are investigating a dead body with no face, having been somehow torn off when the person was killed. Because of a unique birthmark on the body, Satrine recognizes the victim as being Gregor Henk, and that leads them to Gregor’s uncle, Giles Henk. They go to question Giles, and stumble upon what killed Gregor: a bear kept captive in a pit in the backroom. Giles tries to kill them by pushing them both in the pit with the bear, but between Minox’s magic and Satrine’s skill with the crossbow, they’re able to survive. They return to the stationhouse with an arrested Giles, but are immediately called upon for a new case, one out in The Little East neighborhood. They ride out there, as Satrine remembers the incident where she was first “recruited” into Druth Intelligence as a child. Upon their arrival to the neighborhood, they’re escorted to the Tsouljan enclave, where Captain Cinellan is already engaged in the investigation with Inspectors Mirrell and Kellman. Captain Cinellan wants them to take the lead on this case because it is “one of the strange ones.”
The Fuergan Lavark
As they enter the enclave, Minox is struck by a sense of unease in the place, which is an open garden with several trees and isolated huts. Cinellan makes clear that the situation is both strange and delicate, involving several foreigners, so he’s especially relying on Satrine’s knowledge of the wider world. After being told that the victim is Hieljam ab Wefi Loriz, a “lavark”— the Fuergan equivalent of a duke— Minox and Satrine go to investigate the murder scene while assigning Mirrell and Kellman to question the Tsouljans, getting a young worker (Nuf Rup-Sed) who speaks both Trade and Tsouljan to be their translator.
The body is laid out on a table, stabbed with a knife still in the chest, and foreign writing on the body. However, neither the knife nor the writing are Fuergan or Tsouljan, but Imach and Lyranan, respectively. Needing to preserve the scene, and since the most obvious suspects are residents of the enclave, they have the entire place locked down, with officers stationed at the entrance.
Satrine and Minox go to the Fuergan district to find the Hieljam family, going to a tobacconist Minox frequents to get the information, though Minox makes a social error in asking, upsetting the shopkeeper. They’re brought to the household, meeting the ranking members of the Hieljam family in Maradaine: Hieljam ab Tishai and Hieljam ab Orihla. On hearing of the death of their relative (whose exact relationship to them is unclear to Satrine and Minox), they begin a mourning ritual, having Satrine and Minox participate with them. They reveal that the victim was at the Tsouljan enclave to meet with two Kieran merchants, Ravi Kenorax and Estiani Iliari. Minox’s further questioning offends the family, and they leave. Before signing out for the night, they go to a River Patrol Stationhouse and convince the captain there to informally shut down the foreign docks, so no further shipments or business can go out of there.
Minox returns home to find that Joshea Brondar has arrived, and the two of them discuss Minox’s continued trouble controlling his magic, including moments where something magical is affecting Minox’s left hand, which had not yet properly healed from having the mysterious spike driven by Nerrish Plum. Satrine returns home to find she is being visited by Wendt Enbrain, the commissioner of the city constabulary, who urges her to find a resolution to the lavark case. She checks in on her husband, who is still not recovered from his near-fatal injuries, but now he makes sounds and noises constantly, though they make no sense.
Tour of the Little East
Minox’s sister, CORRIE WELLING, a night shift officer at the Inemar, ends her shift in the morning and her cousin, Nyla Pyle, clerk on the inspector’s floor, is coming in, and they note the tension brewing in the Little East based on the activity overnight. Corrie agrees to an extra shift in the afternoon, and sleeps in the stationhouse bunks. Minox, Satrine, Mirrell and Kellman all check in at the stationhouse in the morning, Mirrell annoyed that he and Kellman are running second to Minox and Satrine. After discussing with Zebram Hilsom of the City Protectors office, they make a plan to find the proper provenance of the knife— including two community leaders, Assan Jaibadul and Nalassein Hajan— as well as see the Kieran merchants. They also receive a detailed letter from the Lyranan officials inviting them to meet.
They arrive at Kenorax’s home, where several Kierans are already engaging in a decadent and nearly hedonistic breakfast, though Kenorax is not available to talk to them. They do talk to Iliari, who claims that they were late to the meeting with Hieljam, and when they got there, he was already dead. Minox deduces that Hieljam had a financial problem he was hoping Kenorax could solve, Kenorax himself was indifferent to the meeting. They then meet with Hajan in a coffee shop, but he is put off with the constabulary, as the night shift was harassing his people overnight. He also points out that the knife— a talveca— is not part of his Ghaladi culture, but Kadabali, which indicates Jabiudal and his rival enterprise.
As they go to meet the Lyranans, Minox notes how thorough Satrine’s knowledge is, which she admits is due to her unique training in Druth Intelligence, which included having a full education slammed into her head by a DI telepath, remembering the time in her youth as she was being prepared to infiltrate Waish society. In the meeting with the Lyranans, they reveal they have had minor dealings with Hieljam, and confirm the writing is Lyranan, a form of poetry, but the translation does not provide any further clarity on the case. What is of note is that Satrine recognizes one of the officials, Pro Yikenj, as a Lyranan spy who once tried to kill her.
The Funeral Procession
Satrine and Minox return to the Tsouljan enclave, where Hieljam ab Tishai is making a fuss with the officers guarding the entrance. After some confrontation, it’s clear she wants her relative’s body for a funeral rite. Satrine agrees to take her back the the stationhouse. Minox goes into the Tsouljan enclave to ask questions, but almost immediately he starts to lose control of his magic, which prompts the Tsouljans to bring him to Sevqir Fel-Sed.
Satrine rides with Tishai, who offers little more information helpful to the investigation, other than noting that the Lyranan poem uses imagery sacred to the Fuergan spritualsm. At the stationhouse, Leppin has anticipated the funeral ritual, and has the body ready for Tishai. He then tells Satrine that part of the ritual involves brining the body home through the streets, and they should prepare escort.
Minox’s fit of magic escalates, leaving him completely out of control of his body. The Tsouljans bring him in a hut and lay him out on a table, and at first he fears he is about to be killed like Hieljam. However, an old Tsouljan woman— Fel-Sed— performs a ritual that relaxes him. She tells him he is out of balance, especially in his left arm. She tells him to come back when he has proper questions, and he wonders if he can learn proper magic from her.
Mirrell and Kellman are still in the Little East, when they are confronted by a group of Imachs led by Jabiudal, who makes a public row about them asking about him. Meanwhile. Corrie and Satrine return in escort of the funeral procession— a ritual which involves Tishai throwing money in the street as they ride back with the body. The procession reaches the same intersection as Jabiudal’s zealots. As Minox reaches the same intersection, the situation escalates, as one of the zealots throws a rock at Kellman, who catches it and throws it back, sparking a full brawl. Minox attempts to intervene with magic, but his ability is blocked.
The constabulary threaten to arrest everyone, and Minox calls for Writs of House Binding to be issued to everyone present, keeping them in their homes. He also encourages Corrie, who will be working the night shift, to have superiors encourage a soft curfew, so they don’t have to go through the hassle of paperwork of a real one. Jabiudal, when questioned, denies anything to do with the murder, as he still has his talveca, which is sacred to his faith, and refuses to answer further questions, taking his followers away for prayer. Minox, Satrine and the others return to the stationhouse, and after debriefing Captain Cinellan of their potential suspects– including Jabiudal, Fel-Sed and Yikenj— Cinellan insists they sign out and go home.
Evening Disruptions
Minox goes to see Joshea, telling him of his experiences for the day, especially with Fel-Sed. Joshea agrees to go with him back to the enclave to talk to her, perhaps to learn more about the magical problems Minox is experiencing. With some translation difficulty— which makes Joshea extremely hostile— Fel-Sed indicates that Minox’s hand is “poison”, and she can teach him something, but only he can help himself. With Joshea’s support, Minox agrees.
Satrine first goes to the church to talk with Sister Alana, hoping to find some peace and perspective of the day’s events, and then goes home to find Pro Yikenj waiting in her home with her daughters. After threats and posturing, Yikenj reminds Satrine of their first encounter, in Imachan 15 years ago, where Yikenj roundly beat Satrine and only let her survive because she was pregnant with Rian. Yikenj insists to Satrine that the murder is not connected to Lyranan people or interests, and warns her not to involve herself in their matters before slipping off.
Minox and Joshea go into the tunnels under the Tsouljan enclave, where Fel-Sed attempts a lesson involving a candle flame and the rushing water of an underground river, but Minox almost drowns in the process. Joshea drags him out of there, despite Fel-Sed’s protests that Minox is in danger. As they leave the enclave, a riot has broken out in the Little East.
Corrie is on patrol in the neighborhood, and she catches a number of Fuergans out of doors, who scatter when she confronts them. Before she can get a sense of what is going on, there’s a whistle for a Riot Call, and several Imachs appear and attach the Fuergan households.
The Little East Rows
Minox and Joshea work their way into the fray, Minox making it clear to Joshea he shouldn’t do anything actively aggressive, but asking him to help by pulling out injured people so Yellowshields can more easily treat them. As they are about to engage, a large cadre of Lyranans charge the fight between Fuergans and Imachs. Back at the Welling household, Minox’s cousin Ferah gets home from her shift as a Yellowshield, though most of the home is asleep, except for Edard, who heads out on some mysterious job in Dentonhill. Ferah is about to got to bed when she hears the whistle calls from the Little East, include a Yellowshield call, and goes out.
Satrine spends the night only half-sleeping, keeping watch over the rest of her family, in case Pra Yikenj returns.
Corrie is in the middle of the fray, and does her best to pull out a fellow officer who had been beat to a pulp. As she carries him out, the Lyranan charge reaches her, and she is in the middle of a three-way fight, and an Imach woman jumps on her, knocking her out. Minox and Joshea see her, and on pure instinct, Minox uses an immense amount of magic to knock over all the rioters to clear a path, but in doing so, taxes his body too much, and gets sick, falling over before he can get to Corrie. Ferah arrives on the scene to help him, and as he passes out, she shouting for more help for him and Corrie.
Recovery from Riots
Minox comes to in Ironheart Ward, noticing that his hand is turning black and he’s losing feeling and control. He’s unsure if this is something the Tsouljans did to him, or something they failed to stop. Joshea is also being treated for a head injury, and Minox makes a point to tell the officer on the scene not to put charges on Joshea. He tries to leave to go back to duty, but his Aunt Belilah, the floor nurse on the ward, confronts him, but he ignores her concerns to go on duty. Outside the ward, he finds Nyla waiting, and has her help him get food and get to the stationhouse, revealing he is in much worse condition than he let on.
Satrine wakes up to her household getting ready for the day, including Rian preparing for a job interview at a grand store. Missus Abernand presses Satrine to be home by six bells as she leaves for work. Mirrell’s ride into work sees several civilians concerned with the unrest in the Little East, and Rencir of the South Maradaine Gazette gets in his face to ask uncomfortable questions.
Satrine arrives at the stationhouse at the same time as Kellman, and they’re confronted by Hilsom, as well as a stationhouse full of arrested folks from the Little East, taxing the capabilities of the stationhouse. Satrine recognizes one arrestee as the servant from the Hieljam household, and has him set up to be questioned. On the inspector floor, Hilsom complains that several offices are making complaints about what’s happening, including Kenorax attempting to sue the department. Satrine realizes Minox is in very bad shape, thinking the Tsouljans have done something to his hand, so she tells him to stay at the desk going through the documentation that Hilsom provided while she and Kellman question the Fuergan servant.
In questioning the servant, Uite— with Mister Cheed Cheever from Justice Advocate challenging them— where they determine that the Hieljam family is in financial dire straits, and with a little more pressing, gives them the details of a warehouse.
Corrie wakes up in the ward, her eyes covered in bandages. Concerned about her eye and her hair, she panics, but Beliah is there calm her down. As Beliah gets the doctor, Jabiudal, who is also being treated, reacts to her slur of the Imach who attacked her, and then he reacts to someone else calling him. As Corrie pulls her bandages off, the Imachs start crying out in lamentation, and she sees that one of their people just died. Before she can do anything, Beliah comes back, and Jabiudal grabs her as a hostage, and makes a demand that every single one of his people in the hospital and arrested be let go.
Ironheart Standoff
Minox is working on the paperwork that Hilsom delivered, but in his state, he writes out several notes that, when shook from his reverie by Nyla, make no sense to him. She urges him to go home, and he relents, but as he’s leaving, he learns of the situation at Ironheart and goes there instead. At Ironheart, he takes charge of the situation, starting negotiations with Jabiudal. He agrees to bring in food and change out chamber pots, but the condition is it cannot be a constable bringing it in. Joshea is on hand, and he agrees.
The stationhouse continues to be chaos, as they get word about the situation at Ironheart, as well as Satrine pushing for the Writ of Search for the warehouse. Cinellan sends Mirrell to Ironheart and Satrine and Kellman to go search. Satrine notices Minox’s notes, and wonders what sense they could possibly make.
Minox and Joshea bring in the food, but Minox is getting more and more affected by the magical weakness affecting him. As Corrie helps distribute the food, Jabiudal lets some of the hostages go, but holds onto Beliah, suspecting she is important to Minox. When Minox is overcome by the magical effects and nearly faints, Beliah calls out. A fight breaks out, and when Jabiudal is about to stab Corrie, Minox’s magic explodes out of him.
Searching the warehouse, Satrine and Kellman find barrels full of sweet liquids, and paperwork with Fuergan and Imach writing, indicating Kenorax was involved in the shipment of the barrels, and Lyranan stamps.
Mirrell gets to the scene at the hospital, where Jabiudal is subdued, but Minox and Joshea are missing, and there’s a hole in the floor burned through to the sewers. He calls out an All-Eyes search for both of them, and Corrie, despite her injuries, steps up to be part of the search.
Satrine and Kellman return to the stationhouse to find the ranking Lyranan among the arrestees to get some answers, but find the station somehow under attack, every officer out cold. Satrine goes to the holding cells, and finds Pra Yikenj trying to break her people out. She and Kellman both try to fight Yikenj, but even though they manage to break her arm, she still overpowers them, hitting them both with drugged darts that knock them out.
Lost in the Little East
Minox, confused and disoriented, is wandering through the sewers with Joshea, who is trying to guide him. Through Minox’s clouded mind, he gets the idea that the Tsouljans are needed to get his magical imbalance— which is definitely centered on his hand— back into order.
Corrie gets back to the family house, despite being a mess, tells her mother what’s going on as she changes into fresh clothes. Her mother is horrified about the situation, but on Corrie’s prodding, she agrees to help. As Corrie leaves, her grandmother and Aunt Zura the only ones staying in the house, her mother goes out to rally other members of the family to help with the search for Minox.
Satrine wakes up in the examinarium under Leppin’s care, that she had been poisoned by Yikenj’s darts. He stresses that the method he used to wake her is not very good for her either, and she should go home and rest. After hearing of the chaos in the hospital, and consulting the mess of Minox’s notes, Satrine starts realizing what the murder is all about. While following Leppin’s instructions of keeping senior page Phillen Hace nearby to observe her if she has any medical trouble, she comes up with a plan to go back to the Little East with Hilsom and several lockwagons.
Minox, still in a clouded state, is brought to the Tsouljan Enclave. Joshea uses his uniform coat to get past the footpatrol on guard, and he brings Minox inside. There they are confronted by Fel-Sed, who says that Minox has a made a mess of himself, and with a touch, triggers a magical reaction.
Satrine gets ready to ride back to the Little East with Hilsom and Hace, and Cheed Cheever comes along to make sure that nothing improper is done. Corrie goes to the Brondar butcher shop, hoping there is sign of Minox and Joshea there, but they haven’t see him, and Joshea’s father gives her a hard time. They do say they’ll reach out to her if Minox shows up. Minox is under the Tsouljan treatment, but he is too far gone to understand what they are doing, and in his condition, becomes afraid for his life. He magically attacks them all and runs off into the night.
Collections and Transformations
Satrine, with her entourage, goes to the Lyranan Bureau, and gets ready to serve her writs on all those present, including Taiz, Nengtaj and Yikenj. Hilsom goes with her, ready to outmaneuver the Lyranans and their anticipated bureaucratic dodges. Yikenj is not present, but she brings Taiz and Nengtaj to the lockwagons, to bring them in for her questioning. After sending Hilsom and Cheever with the Lyranans to the Tsouljan compound, she goes to the coffee shop to bring in Hajan. On his pressing why he is even still a suspect, she notes that he’s the one to gain right now, since he can import sukkar with no further interference from Hieljam or Jabiudal. He agrees to come.
Mirrell is continuing his sweep of Inemar for Minox, and is confronted by Cole Pyle, Minox’s uncle. Cole urges Mirrell to push northeast, toward the Little East and the Welling Home. The Wellings will report if he comes home, and his case would still drive him to the Little East. Mirrell agrees, and pushes his search in that direction.
Satrine goes to the Kenorax household, and while she is starting to look worse for wear, she insists to Hace that she can keep going. They reach the household, and while Kenorax resists, they take him out in irons.
Minox reaches his house, but instead of going inside, he goes to the barn where Evoy stays, and starts adding to Evoy’s work on the wall, much to Evoy’s dismay.
Corrie answers a whistle call, which turns out to be Satrine’s and on Satrine’s order, takes the Kierans to the Tsouljan Enclave, where Satrine is gathering all her suspects. In the enclave, Corrie realizes that Joshea is there, under Tsouljan guard, and that Minox had been there and ran off.
Satrine reaches the Hieljam household, and while she’s initially blocked by their lawyer, as there is currently a ceremony going on elevating Tishai to the head of household. After the lawyer makes it clear that Tishai is immune from the Writ of Compulsion, Satrine points out that everyone else involved isn’t, so if Tishai wants a voice at this meeting of all parties, she should come.
As Mirrell’s search for Minox turns up empty, he realizes that they only have the word of Minox’s family that he didn’t go home, and he decides to check it himself.
Ferah returns home, with only Granny Jillian about, everyone else but Zura helping search for Minox— Zura being in the basement, praying. As she and Granny decide to make some food, Evoy knocks on the back door. Ferah is astonished, but realizes that something serious is going on, and follows Evoy to the barn, where Minox is feverish and incoherant.
Satrine arrives at the Tsouljan compound, and starts questioning all parties involved. The key of this case involves the “sweet tar”— sukkar to the Imachs, hsugir to the Fuergans, that is grown in Imachan, and shipped to Maradaine for Kenorax to process in a refinery he just had built in Shaleton, and then shipped out again to sell to Fuerga. Satrine’s understanding of this draws the Tsouljan’s attention. When she pushes the Lyranans further, there is a sudden attack by Pra Yikenj and several other Lyranan officers.
Ferah brings Minox in the house, but he’s burning up. She tries to treat him, getting him in a bath, as someone knocks on the door. While Granny deals with the door, Ferah is trying to figure out how to break his fever. Evoy whispers to Minox about the winter, and then the water freezes around Minox. Ferah struggles to break him out, and when she does, he’s calm and centered again, though his hand has changed into something resembling black glass. Granny Jillian returns and says Mirrell is at the door for Minox.
What, Who and Why
Mirrell is at the Welling house, but he’s being called back to the Tsouljan enclave. Granny Jillian lets just him in the house, where Minox comes out to meet him. While Mirrell is skeptical, Minox is in his full senses, and when he learns what else has been going on, he insists they go to the enclave, and that Mirrell can take him in irons and press charges if he insists.
Corrie jumps into the brawl with the Lyranans, moving in to help Satrine with her fight with Yikenj. As they fight, Satrine starts laughing, which transforms into a seizure. Yikenj is about to kill both Satrine and Corrie when Joshea intervenes, revealing his magical ability to subdue Yikenj. Satrine’s seizure continues, and she can’t calm herself down or slow her breathing. Fel-Sed approaches, and with a touch, triggers a memory of her last night in Waisholm, having finished her mission, and the cold winter of that night. That lets her recover, and she gets to work having Yikenj and the other Lyranan attackers ironed and arrested. She is not satisfied, however, that this has resolved her case, and as Minox arrives with Mirrell. As Minox tells Mirrell and the others to move the questioning to a different part of the garden, away from the purple-flowered trees, he goes with Satrine into one of the huts to convene.
Minox shows Satrine what happened to his hand, and Fel-Sed watches them both as he explains that he has no sensations, but can control it with magic, and he thinks his experiences today has led to this transofrmation, and that Fel-Sed understands what happens, but she isn’t talking. Satrine briefs him on all aspects of the case so far, and he reveals that he undesrands what the murder weapon is: not the knife, but the purple flower.
Minox talks to all of the assembled interested parties, pointing out that what really killed Hieljab ab Wefi was the tea made from the purple flower, which is normally harmless, but dangerous when magical energy is applied to it, which he demonstrates by magically agitating the pollen from the trees. Bur Rek-Uti confirms this point, and Minox notes that his difficulties today came from being exposed to the pollen repeatedly and magically activating it. As arguments start to rise between everyone, one Tsouljan— the gardner named Nuf Rup-Sed— steps forward and confesses.
This causes more chaos, and several don’t believe this confession, but he insists he did it, because he had been listening to the elders of enclave talk about all the trouble the sugar trade would cause and that some action was needed to bring it out in the open. He decided to take that action, seeing it as logical. With this confession, there’s no choice but to arrest him. As that is underway, Yikenj whispers something to Satrine, and Minox talks to Fel-Sed, who says that his condition was caused by the slow death of his arm— due to the exposure to Plum’s magic spike— and then accelerated by the pollen. Fel-Sed triggered the alteration of his hand, as the only way to focus and cap the power behind what was happening to him.
Missions and Doubts
Satrine, Minox, Corrie, Mirrell and Hace all return to the stationhouse, where Captain Cinellan and Commissioner Enbrain are talking to the press about the end results of this case, and with that, the formation of the Grand Inspectors Unit in this stationhouse, which will handle cases of a citywide scope beyond the juristction of one stationhouse.
Minox is confronted by various members of his family, but assures them he is well enough, and he’ll return home with them after debriefing with the captain. The captain promotes Corrie to sergeant and puts her on dayshift after her actions today. Mirrell insists there is a problem with Minox and calls for an inquiry, and even though Cinellan objects, Minox agrees it’s the proper course of action, and Cinellan accepts that and says he’ll put it into motion. As everyone leaves for the night, Leppin comes up to Minox with a note Minox wrote him in his delusional state, asking “where are the spikes?” But Leppin notes that the spikes have vanished from evidence with no paperwork to trace them. That, with the nature of the final confession, makes Minox and Satrine both note that these cases remain unresolved.
Satrine goes home, where she is confronted by Major Grieson, her former boss in Intelligence, which triggers a memory of the last time she saw him: having returned from Imachan, pregnant with the Waish king’s child. Back then, he put her on the new duty of being an unremarkable mother to the child— Rian.
Grieson presses her about what she’s been doing now, and she’s angry he didn’t send her any financial support. He’s concerned about the corruption in the constabulary, and asks if Enbrain is really the man to be in charge. Satrine says he is, and Grieson implies that he’ll make sure the election goes his way. Satrine asks him to send a telepath to possibly help her husband. In the house, Satrine settles for bed, saying good night to her daughters and husband, but Pra Yikenj’s whispered words stick with her: “You’re the one working with a traitor.”