59
- 59 -
“It was my mistake,” Arish said. “I accept full responsibility.”
The warrior stood before Vanya’s desk, even though there was a chair, and Vanya hadn’t told him he couldn’t use it. Maybe it was because she sat on this side now, facing the door—the position of power.
“Tell me again,” she said. “A succinct summary.”
She’d already heard his report, and that of the guard Lopin. She’d watched the recordings, too. So she knew how the two remaining committee members had died.
But this process was important for Arish.
He swallowed. “As discussed, we tried to play the pair off each other. But they became increasingly argumentative, even aggressive. They refused to co-operate. When we…I threatened them with physical pain they laughed. One of them—I can’t remember which one—s
