Retracing David"s steps, Ishtar and Judiah inspect the path where David had been accosted the previous day.
“You see, Ishtar, this is the path I cleared. It"s nowhere near the Palace boundary. The boy must have wandered off his course.”
“Yes, possibly,” Ishtar says, considering Judiah"s conclusion. “But he swears he followed your directions. Could there be an opening you didn"t see? Perhaps an animal tore away the brush.”
“Possibly - possibly.” Judiah"s tone suggests they not consider this possibility at all.
“Or,” Ishtar says, creating another scenario, “the guards knew that David would be walking alone and deliberately led him into a trap by diverting the path.”
“But how could they know, Ishtar? We were the only ones…Oh, no, surely you don"t suspect that I… Ishtar, we are friends to
