Isaac found the case on the ninth night, close to midnight, in a volume so old its binding had been rebound at least twice by archivists who clearly hadn't understood what they were preserving.
The library at this hour belonged almost entirely to them — a single other student asleep over an open textbook three tables down, the reading lamps' warm light the only thing standing between the room and total dark.
He brought it to the library table where Isole and Lyra were already working, and set it down open rather than closed, a departure from his usual habit of announcing a finding before showing it.
"Thessaly Vane-Corrin," he said. "No relation," he added, before anyone could ask. "Ninety-one years ago. Dual-resonance Authority, contested containment measurement, formally recorded."
Isole pulled the volume toward her.
