Tom Óg realises he's only clerical staff and overheard; "He's not detective material", but Émer says he could be better than Nossie.

Émer points out that Marion hired all orphans because she was an orphan too.

Émer wonders where the Firebird feather that Anand dropped had come from. She suggests Anand's hoard is in the Kiranithiaen Mountains. Why doesn't Tom Óg investigate that with their help during the holidays?

The cover is based on "Landscape with the Flight into Egypt" by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

About 65,960 words.