I see your very possible theory and raise you: He did not ask why she killed the Fourth because he already knew why and knew Gideon was listening in the hallway.
I propose they were the ones to âkillâ Protesilusâbut that alone is not why she killed them.
Someone already mentioned in the notes the Palamedes quote about wondering how dangerous the teens really are. That quote comes after one of the teens is caught eavesdropping on a conversation where they were talking about Dulcinea and how sheâs not alone because she has Pro, and comes right before the chapter where the body is found in the incinerator.
When we learn later that Harrow had found the body stabbed and took the head, she mentioned hearing someone coming and not being able to see the rapier properly to identify it before having to leave. Even later we learn it was Cy who retrieved the body and put it in the incineratorâwhich means Cy was likely the person coming when Harrow ran away and was the one to find and identify the rapier. Cytherea knew who âkilledâ Pro for as long as she knew Pro had been âkilled.â
Meanwhile, back in the chapter with the incinerator discovery, Isaac is described as looking like âIâve been on edge for three daysâ in the narration. Both him and Jeannemary are a mess and described as jumpy through the chapter. And so certain itâs human remains in the incinerator when the remains are unrecognizable as human to the naked eye. Weâre led to believe their paranoid behavior is a result of the Fifthâs murders, but if my theory is right, itâs really because theyâve been searching for the body of the cavalier theyâd murdered and are unnerved why someone else would dispose of the body and why Jeannemaryâs rapier was left at the crime-scene when the body was taken (remember, no one was missing their rapier beyond this point, which means Cy never took the rapier with her when she snagged the body).
No one ever asked why the Fourth would think to look in the incinerator. Itâs an odd place to poke oneâs headâbut makes sense if they were thinking of places a body could be disposed. They confirmed they had already checked the morgue (âMagnus and Abigail are still where they ought to be,â said Jeannemary fiercely, âin the mortuary.â).
âI keep seeing things,â said the necromantic teen, emptily. They turned to look at him. âOut of the corners of my eyes ⌠when itâs nighttime. I keep waking up and hearing something moving ⌠or someone standing outside the door.â
Cytherea knew it was them. She was stalking/keeping an eye on them ever since, likely wondering how much they knew. But she didnât kill them then. No, there was a triggering incident for that.
Jeannemary and Isaac go down with Gideon to the labs to search for someone they know is dead and the body removed. Simultaneously, the Sixth and Harrow go to guard Lady Septimus.
The Fourth and Gideon are not attacked right away when they go down, almost like a time delay. Perhaps the amount of time it took for Lady Septimusâs self-appointed guards to arrive and explain that the Fourth and Gideon went down together to search for Protesilusâa man Cytherea knows the Fourth absolutely know is dead. Hereâs how I imagine the conversation went:
Pal: My Lady, we are here to guard you while the Fourth and Gideon the Ninth search for your cav in the labs below.
Cy: How sweeâwait, did you say Gideon and the Fourth went searching for Pro?
Pal: Donât worry, Gideon can look after them. And Jeannemary immediately agreed to this arrangement.
Cytherea, thinking of the last time her cav* was alone in the labs with the Fourth House: đđđ
*Cytherea, whoâs been alone for centuries missing Loveday, had Gideon behaving as her pseudo-cavalier for most of the book.
Meanwhile, down in the labs, the Fourth were behaving sketchy af. They warded every single entrance to alert them of someone coming. Isaac makes a point to ask Gideon, the cavalier with the bone adept: âNinth, why were bone fragments found in Magnusâs body, and in Abigailâs?â and âAt first I thought it was the skeletonsâ <â they believe the Ninth House were involved in the Fifthâs murder. It is the whole of the Fourth House secluded with only half the Ninth House.
All that is to say, Cytherea killed the Fourth House because they were going to kill Gideon. Palamedes did not ask âWhy the Fourth?â because he figured it out in the hallway before confronting Cytherea and, likely due to Gideonâs overwrought grief for the Fourth, decided to spare Gideon from hearing that.
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