The next day…
Last night was a lot to occur on a single night. The arrest of the eighth prince was already a matter that could rattle the royal court — the royal court which was mostly filled by Joaquin's people and had a notion of the plan. But no one expected the turn of events from bad to worse with the fire and Ismael missing.
Without Ismael in their custody and not showing up shamefully from his arrest in the Vida residence, the bribery they wanted to charge him for would be less… credible. It would be all hearsay since there were no eyewitnesses, and even if the people in the chief justice would stand on the stand, they could also be in trouble with Modesto, since it was easy to change the public's opinion and make them appear they were bribed or threatened once a seed of doubt was planted successfully.