"I'm not sure," Gene said to Valdis. "Though they've always seemed to be the pacifistic type. While they're not beyond passive-aggression, I should think that actual vandalism would be a little bit outside their scope."

At Zohvin's revelation, though, he looked thoughtful. "Chaos to cover tracks. Though not very well-covered, it seems." Gene's familiar with misdirection to further his own ends, but coming at it from an investigator's perspective is uniquely interesting, and potentially uniquely vexing.

"If it's misdirection, then, we ought to consider who might have motive."