Goodman. Mia Fey. And Mia's unpredictable apprentice, who had found the truth Lana's office had been too blind to uncover. Willfully blind, in more than one case, and she'd closed the books before they could possibly have found them all. And a case that threatened to bring everything to light, but of which Lana had no memory.

If she let the hypothesis play out, what then? If she allowed that Ema could be right, that she was talking about something that hadn't happened yet, everything else socketed back into place like a joint she had forgotten was hurting. Connections Ema didn't -- couldn't -- know anything about, twisted around her hypothetical hands, and there was only one reason she would plead guilty to a murder she hadn't committed.

She couldn't tell her everything was going to be all right. It would have been a lie, even if she were speaking only of this "Institute", but now she couldn't even get the words to start past the lump in her throat. She swallowed, and tried again.

"It's not surprising you couldn't find Mia Fey." Her voice came out without a tremor. "She passed away several months ago. Mister Wright was able to clear her sister of all charges." There were so many things she couldn't say; a nod of approval at Ema's choice to overrule her sister's wishes was all she could offer. That and the fact she stayed; running away was something they both had done enough of for one day.