บท 503: Just Standing There

Lone shut the door behind the two of them.

That could have gone better. 

Taking a deep breath, Coraline laid her back against the wall... and she went over the dozens of things she could have done differently. 

Whew. There weren't many things she could have done *worse*...

Lone raised their shared oil lamp, illuminating the naive, slightly confused expression on his face. 

"What was that? Your Truth spell?"

"Yeah..." Coraline puffed a lock of hair away from her nose, "I'm a Circle Mage. Big surprise, huh?"

Lone pursed his lips, hesitating for a moment, "Why didn't you... ask if Maisie knew who the murderer was?"

Coraline closed her eyes and shook her head, "I couldn't... the spell's not so easy to use. Miss Maisie's beliefs can sway her answers. She could have just blamed Olesya-- even without any evidence."

"Then... you could have asked if... Maisie, herself, was the murderer?"