Chapter 23: The Kingdom in Crisis

   While the soireé was still going on, Police Commissioner Miranda Wright, accompanied by three plainclothes officers, entered the ballroom.  She privately tells King Zaniddiate that her officers had just arrested some men who were caught with explosives, apparently intending to blow up the legislative building.  Then Royal Investigations Commission agents showed up and demanded their release, explaining that the arrested men had merely been conducting a drill for RICO. That explanation seemed unlikely because the men had possession of some new chemical called nitroglycerine. 

     Commissioner Wright ordered one of her officers to make a list of every act of violence that had been blamed on Metamorph.  She ordered another to make a list of every drill that RICO had held during that same period.

     Soon thereafter, Commissioner Wright learns that, regarding the Edward Mandell house fire, the illustration in the Royalton Curious newspaper was a perfect match for the perspective from which the fire would have been witnessed by the person who was seen drawing the house on the night of the fire.  That suggested prior knowledge.

  The following day, Commissioner Wright, King Zaniddiate, and others held another meeting in the dining area next to the ballroom.  For the first time, King Zaniddiate learned that there were naiads in the waters of Beauteous Kingdom; and he met the naiads Sunshine and Butterfly.
     Realizing that they can't trust RICO, the magicians, or the newspapers, they take their discussion to Bastiat and ask for advice.  Bastiat advises King Zaniddiate on how the royal family can reclaim their power over the royal treasury.  They call in the bishop (Bishop Joey) to give assistance in secret.
     The king asks Commissioner Wright to put the Aquatic Watch on high alert throughout the peninsula and surrounding waters.  Sunshine writes an order in the naiad language and passes the order to Sunshine.