Brother Francis shook his head. He knew less, perhaps, than anyone, concerning high-level reactions to his discovery of the relics. He noticed that the messenger wore the white habit of the Dominicans, and he wondered with a certain uneasiness about the nature of the "court" whereof the Black Friar had spoken. There was an inquisition against Catharism in the Pacific Coast region, but he could not imagine how that court could be concerned with relics of the Beatus. Ecce Inquisitor Curiae, the note said. Probably the abbot meant "investigator." The Dominican seemed a rather mild-humored man, and was not carrying any visible engines of torture.