"It's more than one person's life, Terrence."

"I'm not giving up on him!"

"The important question at the end of the day isn't 'is Roby normal Bohemian levels of eccentric, or is he barking mad?' it's 'is Roby safe to be out in the world?' And-- if he had anything to do with Clare Melford..."

"Well, then. We had better find out."

"In nine days. Somehow."

"I imagine we might do better at speaking with him now that we know something about his - his world."

"...'We found something in Roby's background we are concerned about, and we would like some more time to investigate' wouldn't be a lie."\

"We can even be specific. It's not like the Clare Melford deaths aren't relevant to Aarons' decision here."

"That's true, that's true."

Sal moves over next to Jing Yi.

"I had a thought," he says quietly. "You said your fiancée can make animals friendly. We have a very dangerous animal we need not to attack us if we go anywhere near it. What does that include? How much can she do?"

"I think she can only do animal-animals. I can ask, but I really doubt it."

"...Jing Yi what is an animal-animal. Are you... are you saying you think that the thing we're dealing with isn't a proper animal."

"Even if he did it-- I think understand where Terrence is coming from. I don't know if I feel good just leaving him there to rot. Is there maybe some way we can help him regain--" pointedly averts his eyes from Terrence-- "sanity? Even if we can't get him out?"

"Well, she can't do people, so if it's sentient we're going to have trouble."

"How do we know she can't do people."

"--she said as much?"

"Okay but cats are people and most humans don't know that."

Even if she's not lying, which is a possibility Inaaya's not mentioning but she's thinking about! Honestly!

"Has she mentioned doing it on cats?"

"...I could ask about the cats. I have only personally seen her do it on birds."

"Okay, but my point isn't just 'does it work on cats,' it's 'we really do not know what is and is not people.' If birds had a language I do not think I would necessarily know it!"

Meanwhile, Terrence brings out his beloved typewriter and starts drafting a letter to Aarons, suggesting that while they're hopeful, they have found a connection (of unclear nature) to some deaths in Clare Melford and would like to ask him some questions about it, and will that work for his schedule.

Also, what happens in 9 days? He solicits feedback from the others as he types.

The thing that happens in nine days according to the letter is Roby's hearing.

Jing Yi puts his head in his hands. "There's no way we're going to be able to delay the legal system."

Oh, right. Well. "Then we shall have to work quickly.

...I think that if I can show him that I'm on the level, so to speak, he might tell me some more about his friends, who could perhaps give us a better sense of - ah - of how culpable Roby or any of them are in all this."

"I also want to talk to Valentine Donovan again, we've acquired more questions about Shub-Niggurath and she unlike Roby actually talks about things sometimes."