[Under Miraculous Special Effects, RoP:D p61, there are two factors beyond Base & RDT that can affect the difficulty of Miracles. They are Timeliness (for example +10 difficulty if it must happen right now) and Need (For example, +20 difficulty if the miracle itself is impious).
You could be as cryptic as you wanted but, had I succeeded, the Understanding base 25 of "Receive a vision that addresses a specific question about your situation" seems pretty clear cut that I can ask whatever.]
Xene carefully rewraps the corpse in its shroud and helps the grogs return it to the crypt making sure to try and keep everything as it was before. Then she and other others return to their cell.
In the morning Xene rises as early as possible despite how tired she is. After making sure the few items she brought with are packed and secured for travel she seeks out Mother Cleo, hoping to find her alone to thank her for her help. Xene also tries to find Sister Rhea if she is still here, apologizing that she was unable to see her yesterday when they arrived and sorry that they must leave so soon. After breakfast and these goodbyes, Xene returns to the cell to leave with Minos.
Your goodbyes are short and awkward, as they typically are, and the trip to Erebos uneventful. When you arrive in Erebos you are welcomed inside but neither of you is given a token. Megehia seeks you out at dinner before you have begun your investigation. "I thought I'd see what time I could save your investigation, though I am not required to cooperate, in hopes of drawing this farce to a close. Yes I am responsible for the Patriarch's death, it was retribution forhim murdering my soldales, and that is the essence of my defense regarding mundane interference, save that the attack was also indirect- I caused him to lose control of demons he was conjuring, and they killed him, as they tend to do. Is there anything else you need to know? after speaking to Mino she turns to you and her attitude softens " or want to know?"
"Thank you for coming forward to explain. Unfortunately that does not put this... um, farce as you called it, to rest. We can not merely believe your statement as fact, much as I would like to. Would you allow me to ask you questions while you are under the effect of Frosty Breath of the Spoken Lie? If you lowered your Parma I believe I could manage that. As I am not a full Quaesitor yet, Minos would have to oversee my interrogation but you could have a witness you trust, if you wanted. Obviously this would be voluntary and you may refuse answering particular questions if you chose."
Megehia nods "But not here. If I am going to lower my parma I want to do so where I still have some protections from outside magic, and where I am not out in the open." She gives directions to a secluded part of the covenant, where she casts a ReVi ward to prevent outside spells or magical effects from entering (note: this is within the aegis), then hands Xene a token before lowering her Parma for her.
Once she has the token Xene asks, "Are you ready?" And when Meghia informs her of her assent she begins casting Frosty Breath of the Spoken Lie [Casting Total before Magic Aura 25, success, no fatigue loss]. Attempting to hide the familiarity she feels with Meghia, Xene affects a very proper and cold manner. "Please, Meghia, to be sure the spell is working, tell me that Justina is still alive."
[Assuming that Meghia states that lie and her breath was frosty and visible as the spell should make it Xene continues.]
"Thank you. Please tell us again how you arranged the death of the Patriarch."
The following is all stated without another breath of frost " As I stated before, I used my magics, including secrets handed down to me by my parens, to interfere with the control that the Patriarch had over the demon he had been using and which killed Justina. The demon had no motive to keep the Patriarch alive and resented his control, and so it killed the Patriarch. It is my impression that it also dragged his soul to hell, and I used further magics to prevent it from returning by any way associated with the Patriarch." she pauses for a second, thinking something through, and then nods, indicating she is done.
She pauses and thinks about the question for a moment before responding "As I understand them they do not need to do so, and I do not believe that the method I used does so." There is no frost and she smiles weakly.
Minos considers "Do you swear that everything you told us previously this day is true?"
Meghia considers for a moment then replies "I do not recall everything I said well enough to swear such an oath." and again there is no frost.
Minos nods then looks to Xene "I believe that is all we need to ask, though Meghia seems quite familiar with the limitations of this spell, and it might be worth your while to practice questioning her, if she will ascent, so that you become familiar with the limitations as well."
Xene visibly relaxes and smiles at Meghia, "Would you be willing to aid in my instruction? The grogs Minos has me practice on aren't usually aware of the limits of the spell?"
Meghia considers "So long as we switch to a subject that is not constrained by the code, and I will tell you directly if the questioning crosses personal boundaries." She nods as she speaks.
"Of course. You may choose not to answer any question and my goal is to learn, not to extract a confession from you so I will try and avoid asking questions that might lean heavily against the Code. But, in the spirit of my education, you should try and mislead me with your answers and perhaps outright lie, occasionally."
[Assuming Meghia consents to those additions:]
Xene asks a series of questions.
"Your magical lineage is the Witches of Thessaly, the lineage Trianoma and her sister were of, correct?"
"Have you trained an apprentice? [If so:] Tell me what it was like to see them pass the gauntlet."
"How did you become friends with Justina?"
"How close are you with your Parens?"
"What are Stringla like?" [Infernal tradition in Sundered Eagle p141. I assume Xene knows a little about them due to their links to the forming of Polyaigos as a covenant.]
And a series of other questions, personal, inconsequential, or about some aspect of the order or house Ex Miscellanea that Xene is curious about.
"incorrect" and there is no frost to her breath,
"I have not trained an apprentice" and again her breath has no frost
She thinks for a while on the third question before answering "While I believed Justina's efforts to save me were misguided, I also came to realize that her sincerity meant she was someone I could trust to act in my interest, at least as she saw them."
"My parens is deceased. It has been a long time since I have seen her."
"I would assume lousy in bed, but there is nobody I know to be a Stringla."
As you finish your questions she explains the deceptions, and how she avoided breathing frost.
"Your statement was incorrect, though my magical lineage was descended from the Witches of Thessaly, it was different branch than Trianoma and her sister were of, and I have trained multiple apprentices, not merely an apprentice. The important point is that if what I say is the truth, as I honestly understand it, whether it deceives or not is of no consequence."
Xene is agape that such a bold misdirection as the one stated about apprentices can pass through the spell. “Thank you, Meghia. I was warned of the limits of the spell but it is eye opening to be face to face with such a blatant circumvention that avoids its effects.” Xene turns to Minos [or goes to find him if he went and did something else], “Did you have any other need for Meghia or can we leave her be?”
[as a player I don’t feel confident in my knowledge of the Code of Hermes, and in particular the specifics of the Code in the Theban Tribunal, to determine whether this is a likely situation of mucking about with demons. Pretty sure the mundane interference charge is not an issue as there seemed to be no sign or suspicion by the monks that this was a demon, let alone a Magoi of the Order. I have some other IC thoughts but would like to try and answer the first question before I get into Xene’s spiel. May I roll to get a more definitive answer on whether this is likely to be an issue around the code?]
Go ahead and roll, but I will tell you ahead of time that the case as it stands if a highly subjective one, which is as much a matter of opinion and how you read the facts as it is the code.