"I'm not even going to ask," said Crowley, catching her expression. Then he sighed. "I don't know. There's a pattern here, but I'm just not seeing all of it. It's like a puzzle that has some of the middle filled in, but I can't find the edges yet. Might help to have more of the pieces.

"I did trace my side from Michael, to Gabriel, to the Metatron, but the tiny moron left before I knew and I never got the chance to question him about where he got the orders from. He's not bright enough to think of it himself, and like I told Gabriel, if He wanted me gone, I'd be gone. So who does that leave? Maybe if I know who told Ligur to do it I can find the connection I'm missing. And if not, well, it should be amusing at any rate."