Mal and Ylanath are confronted by the inquisitor, Father Torquemada. Mal attempts to direct the blame at Sir Ali and accuses him of psychic powers and antimony but the priest seems to be having none of it. Mal is a known recidivist and has been excommunicated by the church, he appears to be the guilty party here. Threatened with the priest's flame gun Mal lays his swords on the table.
Ylanath and Mal are not alone though; Pandemonium Max has been sat across the room and come over to the table. He tries to calm the situation with intimidation but Torquemada is not an easy man to sway from his path and things look set to turn violent....
Meanwhile in Sir Ali's apartment Hemlock's mother, the Baroness Esmeraldas welcomes her son and begs him to stop all this foolishness and sit alongside her. Hemlock coldly refuses, demands that she call off the inquisition and when she refuses, strikes her with his frap stick, penetrating the shield she wears.
In the cafe, while Mal laid his swords aside, he still has a knife and he strikes at Torquemada, pinning his hand to the table. Max then headbutts the priest and they subdue Sir Ali, her promises to sign a full confession and provide them with the evidence they need if they end his life quickly rather than handing him to the church for punishment. They agree (although they fully intend to hand him to the "mercies" of the church) and then hastily take him and Torquemada out of the shop.
The apartment is in uproar, Anton and Chastity make short work of the Baroness' guards while Hemlock tries to reason with his mother. She admits that the attack on his uncle's estate when Hemlock and Tiger-Lily were children was punishment on her husband and his brother after they tried to take too much of a cut and cheat the Al Malik's over the illicit artefact smuggling. She fully condoned the attack as, in her mind Tochiro Justinian needed to know his place. It was unfortunate but necessary, but at least her son survived. Hemlock tries to tell her that her son did not in fact survive and that "he" is Tiger-lily and has been all along. She doesn't accept it initially but comes to see the truth. She is bitter and outraged and with venom on her lips Tiger-Lily stikes her again, mortally wounding her. As Anton clears up the guards, Mal, Max and Ylanath arrive while Chastity comforts Tiger-lily as she slowly suffocates her mother, ensuring that she is dead.
With the evidence they need to clear Chastity and Sir Mercucio and the revelation of Count Innocence's involvement meaning he can now invest directly in Corteaz' endeavours the cadre can rest, comfortable that their mission in complete.
Sir Ali's evidence also clears the charges of smuggling and the "Innocent Pursuit" is released to the Marquis de Havilland once more.
In a final coda Tiger-Lily asks Chastity where they stand now in respect of their engagement. Chastity says that she is her dearest friend and that has not changed. She comes from a noble House where people change physically all the time so she has come to look at the person for who they are, not what they present to the world. She has no closer friend, no one she trusts greater and cannot imagine anyone she would rather have as a partner than Tiger-Lily, or Keats. Keats agrees and thet board Chastity's ship, hand in hand.
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