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His gaze traveled at high speed down the list. Opposite each Jedi’s name were the details of that individual’s passing. Occasionally the words UNVERIFIED, UNKNOWN, or, even more rarely, POSSIBLY STILL EXTANT appeared. To be certain of his conclusions, he made himself read through the entire list, though not all the pertinent details, until he reached the name he sought.

Interestingly, among those listed as extant and POSSIBLY ON IMPERIAL CENTER was a name he had encountered recently: Jax Pavan. That was the Jedi the bounty hunter Aurra Sing had been looking for.

Well, that was Jax Pavan’s problem. The captain’s concerns lay elsewhere.

He read the entry for SKYWALKER, ANAKIN. His heart pulsed as he noted that the Jedi in question had indeed perished on the volcanic world of Mustafar. Though he scanned carefully through every subsequent name, there was no mention of Padmé. Despite his disappointment, he knew that was to be expected. The list recorded the passing of Jedi, not “ordinary” galactic citizens. Such details of Padmé’s death were widely available in the general media, especially on Naboo.

He read through the listing again. There was no mention of what Skywalker had been doing on Mustafar at the time of his death, though Typho already knew that. He was supposed to have been guarding Padmé. More surprisingly, there was no description of his manner of passing: merely that he had met his end on that fiery, inhospitable world.

Typho thought furiously. Skywalker had not been just any Jedi. He had been one of the best, personally driven to protect his ward and exceptionally skilled in the use of the Force. Try as he might, Typho could not imagine who else on Mustafar at the time could have killed Padmé in the strange fashion consistent with the official autopsy.

Suppose Skywalker had indeed killed Padmé, but had somehow subsequently made his escape? But then why would the official report show him as dead? Regardless of whether or not the Jedi had slain Padmé, the Emperor wanted all Jedi dead. No one in officialdom would protect him. If anything, knowing that he had killed Padmé would have made him a perfect example of a traitor for the Empire to hold up.

Assume the opposite, then. Take the official record at face value. Anakin Skywalker was dead. Though his manner of passing was not described, Mustafar, after all, was a place where fiery death awaited at every step. If the Jedi had perished as a consequence of falling into boiling lava or being buried by an eruption, why wouldn’t the record show that? The omission implied that he had died by other means.

By other hands? Typho wondered.

He had seen for himself Skywalker’s skills and mastery of the Force. If natural means were not responsible—and if they were, there was no reason the captain could think of why that should not be reported in the official record—then it suggested a person or persons might be to blame. That made sense. Whoever wanted Padmé dead and had slain her by such ingenious means would understandably have to kill her bodyguard first. Was it possible an individual existed with the power to overcome a Jedi as powerful as Skywalker?

The Emperor himself could have done so, Typho knew. But Padmé’s death had occurred before Palpatine had declared himself, and in any event, Typho couldn’t conceive of any scenario in which her death would have been politically advantageous to Palpatine’s ascension. Who else, then? Another Jedi, perhaps—but why would one Jedi want another dead, not to mention a renowned, respected, and well-loved Senator from Naboo? Who possessed that kind of mastery of the Force, and that kind of raw hatred?

That was when it hit him. That was when it all came together in his mind.

A Sith.

Only one of the Dark Lords commanded enough skill with the Force to overcome a Jedi as strong as Anakin Skywalker. Only one of that malevolent brood could casually dispatch someone as good and pure as Padmé. As to who might want her dead—well, with her outspokenness on behalf of the Republic, the Senator had made