Chapter 349: The Open Link (4)
"Arbiter Hale," Orrik said, his voice deep and clipped over the field line. He glanced once at Helion standing on the dais in Bastion Seven and inclined his head a fraction. "Lord Commander. My column is halted for the morning rest sixty miles south of your gate. Why am I being pulled into a Tribunal link?"
"Because the warrant in your dispatch case was stamped before the crime it cites, Marshal," Hale stated bluntly.
Orrik's grey brows drew together. "My warrant carries the seal of the Military High Command. The Audit Office finding attached to it reached my column by relay courier at last night's halt, stating a Senate envoy was murdered in Bastion Seven."
"The envoy died at dusk yesterday from poison administered at midday," Hale said, tapping Torvin's folio.
