“I should not try to buy drugs, I do poorly at being insincere.”

"Go to a club and ask where one scores the good stuff around here?"

"I don't think people who do drugs use 'one' like that."

"I've done a drug!"

“We’re foreigners here, I expect she can use words however and people will not think much of it as long as we are understood.”

"Yeah, I guess you'd wanna find wherever the low lives hang out around here and ask them about - we can just ask for it by name, be informed sort of customers. I'm trying to think how we'd leverage that to figure out where the operation is based, though - "

Mordred would absolutely buy that Zoe has done drugs but can't think of a way to say this that isn't at least a little insulting. "Araari, do you want to go with me to check the city records and newspaper archives?"

“That sounds like a good idea, thank you.”

"And then the four of us can go... clubbing. ...Anita I assume you can take point."

"I'm not going clubbing. I am going to stay home and read about anthropology."

Lev is so sensible.

Lev is so sensible.

"Good plan."

Before they split up, they get a hotel. Cape of Good Hope Lodging, located on the Strada Stretta in Valletta's red light district, will probably be conveniently located for finding drugs but he sure doesn't want to stay there.

As if rich people don't also buy drugs.

Honestly rich people probably buy more drugs, having more money with which to purchase drugs.

Araari is going to just.... let everyone else have opinions on how much money they should spend on a hotel, given that she doesn’t exactly have much.

Okay but they don't just let anyone off the street get a look at their supply, do they. How about the Kingsway Inn, it's more of a walk but feels less likely to get them mugged going home at night and isn't actually outside of the city.

Siiiigh the Kingsway Inn is fine. Given that the nice one is inconveniently located. Or at least might be. She supposes they have absolutely no reason to believe that the cult is located in Valetta.

The first thing Mordred finds out in the city records is that Montgomery Donovan is a woman.

There's lots of property and paperwork in Montgomery’s name – specifically a harbor-view townhouse in western Valetta near the Great Siege Road, the yacht Elegance (previously registered to one Peter Lukas), and a warehouse owned by her in the western end of the southern harbor. But there’s nothing particularly revealing about any of the information. The records paint a picture of a very wealthy woman with almost no legal footprint.

Peter Lukas is a former ship captain who currently owns four freighters: the Thyrsus, the Odysseus, the Fatima, and the Sea Empress. He primarily specializes in shipping textiles.

Montgomery's warehouse also has textiles. Obviously. Very wealthy textile-shipping businesswoman here.

Of course.

...Well, that makes Peter Lukas seem a bit more suspicious, if textiles might be a euphemism. Anyone else who works with her in the textile business?

Not according to these records.

Okay. Well, the warehouse may or may not be anything, but Araari will make a note of the address anyway.

Mordred is pretty sure the warehouse is something. To the newspaper.

...They cannot find anything in the newspaper.

“What do you want to do now?”

"I doubt we'd find anything in the police records, it doesn't look like she's doing anything recognizably illegal."

"Or she has enough money that the police will not look at her. Same result.” Nod.