Swamped

"Never met her myself, she was before my time. But there's an old story about her and it's pretty famous." The doctor pauses for a bit. "Matilda Laikenne said she was an exiled noble. Turned out to be a lie, she was just trying to get favors from people who figured she might be able to do something for them if she ever got back her title."

He turns his attention to the sign for a moment before continuing. He seems lost in thought.

"Thing is, those favors were rarely for just her benefit. She got quite a few stingy merchants to put their money into things like building a new orphanage, a new guildhouse... and even a new clinic. So she leaves a mixed legacy, with the people divided about whether the good she did outweighed the deception... well, at least among the people who remember the stories. I suppose not so many do these days."

You certainly hadn't heard of her by now.

"So why the surprise about this book?"

"Ah," he says. He seems a little uncomfortable. "Her name came up earlier today - yesterday now, I suppose - in another conversation. I just wasn't expecting to hear about her at work, too."

Well, isn't that interesting. It sounds like it might be embarrassing to him... but it also might just be relevant.

"I wonder if that conversation has anything to do with why our intruder was rummaging through the pages of her book," you muse.

"It very well could, now that you mention it," the doctor sighs. "So much for putting it out of mind. I'll need a moment before I'm ready to explain."