A crowd had gathered, both in the outside hallway and in the R&D corridor. I noticed Jake peering wide-eyed over Owen’s shoulder. Ari hovered over the group clustered in the R&D corridor, looking like someone who had slowed down to ogle the five-car pileup on the freeway.
In the outside hallway, there was an even larger crowd. It was as if someone had gotten on the company intercom and announced that there was free food outside R&D. Gregor and Kim were there from Verification. Minerva Phelps of Prophets and Lost stood in front of the group, like she’d been the first arrival. Dortmund, the accounting gnome, was elbowing people in the knees as he worked his way to the front.
If Merlin had been any other boss, he would have said, “Don’t you people have jobs?” and sent them scurrying to stir up more rumors based on half-truths and guesses. Instead, he faced the crowd and said in a commanding voice, “It appears that we have a traitor in our midst. Please be aware of the activity around you and report anything suspicious to Miss Chandler, who will be managing the investigation. Now you may return to your work. The situation is under control.”
When Merlin went into ancient-sorcerer-who-built-an-empire mode, people tended to listen, so the crowd dispersed rapidly. When they were gone, I said, “I guess we’re not investigating covertly anymore.”
He sighed, and he was once again a very elderly man in a difficult position. “It didn’t seem likely that we could maintain any secrecy, so I felt it best to adapt our strategy. You will surely be overwhelmed with reports of suspicious behavior, but it’s possible that a germ of truth will be within. You’ll have to use your discernment to sort through it all wisely.”
“So you’re not going to reassign the investigation to people who know what they’re doing, now that we’ve been outed?” I asked hopefully.
“I see no need to make any changes at this point. Please continue your efforts.”
I could see already that I’d have to sit down with Isabel to get the scoop on the entire company so I’d be able to tell who had a grudge against whom and for what reason. Without being up on all the dirty laundry, it would be impossible to sort the malicious reports from the possible facts. Then again, there was always the possibility that someone who had a reason for a grudge might be telling the truth.
This was a whole new kind of verification, and it had nothing to do with seeing past magic. It would take seeing the truth in each person’s heart and soul.