Cael shifted forward. "A lead, but not the kind I would like? Did this Enigma steal something else? Something as precious as Ice Flower?"
Instead of replying immediately, Arca launched into an entire story.
"Since there were no leads and no evidence from the scene of the last reported crime—that is, theft of the Ice Flower—I couldn't start the investigation the basic way. Instead, I decided to search the archives of the Church and see if there were other similar cases of theft documented."
Still, Cael listened patiently. Mostly.
"Why should there be? I thought the Church only had the authority to investigate crimes related to heresy and dark magic."
Arca chuckled. "Yes, but copies of reports of notable magic-related crimes still end there more often than not. It works the other way around—there are a lot of things related to the Church in royal archives. I plan to visit them, too, but I haven't had the time yet."