Search his house for incriminating correspondence. Talk to his bank manager and find out whether he’s had a surprising influx of money recently. (If so, then in court you can ask Orin to explain where it came from; if it was really a bribe from a foreign enemy, he’ll have to make up something that you may be able to refute.) Ask his neighbours whether unexpected people have been seen going in and out of his house. (If so, then maybe their descriptions match up to those of known foreign agents. Or their conversation might have been overheard.) All the same sorts of things you do when investigating any alleged crime. If a sufficient quantity of evidence of malfeasance piles up, you’re done.
In any case, we seem to have shifted from “obviously the king was granting Orin immunity from prosecution for treason” to “of course it might be difficult to convict him of treason if guilty”. Which, yes, it might. (So I should have said: “If he’s found guilty of treason he gets executed (or whatever)”; my apologies for the inexactitude.)
how would you stop Orin from, say, going back to his patron [...]
He’s already in custody.
it was a bad idea if it wasn’t intended to be a commentary on existential risk.
I thought it obviously was intended to be a commentary on existential risk.
[EDITED to add: but I now see that the author has specifically said it wasn’t. Oh well.]
Orin [...] never leaving his native country again [...] As a foreigner, Orin may be chargeable
I’m confused again. In the story, Orin isn’t a foreigner, he’s a citizen of the Kingdom under discussion. At least, there’s every indication he is and none he isn’t that I can see.
[EDITED shortly after posting, to make it clearer that the point of the evidence-gathering would be the aggregate evidence, not that you necessarily look for a single smoking gun, and to clarify the nature of some of the possible evidence.]
Search his house for incriminating correspondence. Talk to his bank manager and find out whether he’s had a surprising influx of money recently. (If so, then in court you can ask Orin to explain where it came from; if it was really a bribe from a foreign enemy, he’ll have to make up something that you may be able to refute.) Ask his neighbours whether unexpected people have been seen going in and out of his house. (If so, then maybe their descriptions match up to those of known foreign agents. Or their conversation might have been overheard.) All the same sorts of things you do when investigating any alleged crime. If a sufficient quantity of evidence of malfeasance piles up, you’re done.
In any case, we seem to have shifted from “obviously the king was granting Orin immunity from prosecution for treason” to “of course it might be difficult to convict him of treason if guilty”. Which, yes, it might. (So I should have said: “If he’s found guilty of treason he gets executed (or whatever)”; my apologies for the inexactitude.)
He’s already in custody.
I thought it obviously was intended to be a commentary on existential risk.
[EDITED to add: but I now see that the author has specifically said it wasn’t. Oh well.]
I’m confused again. In the story, Orin isn’t a foreigner, he’s a citizen of the Kingdom under discussion. At least, there’s every indication he is and none he isn’t that I can see.
[EDITED shortly after posting, to make it clearer that the point of the evidence-gathering would be the aggregate evidence, not that you necessarily look for a single smoking gun, and to clarify the nature of some of the possible evidence.]