think. I spend my days on symbolism, Mr. Barrow, because of course unlike my ancestors I am a symbolic king, not a real one. And yet that is not nothing, Mr. Barrow. Sometimes, symbols move solid objects; sometimes they act on flesh and blood. If you don’t pay attention to what things mean, you miss a piece of the puzzle. Without the meaning of things, without the stories people tell about them—that people believe about them—you can’t understand events, detective. You can’t understand this city.”
