After concocting a complicated cover story involving failed romance and jilted love, the team scores a gold compass (as in, points to gold) from section monkey, and takes a military airship to Oca on a somewhat unpleasant overnight flight. There they find that Mirella has taken ship a few days before...
To Moncanto, a corrupt Darian city-state ruled by a pirate king. They spend some time arranging transport, in the end deciding not to go on a large clipper, but instead to take one of the suspiciously sleek fishing boats that frequent Oca harbor. They do not, however, take the one recommended to Sasha by the local underworld.
Also in Oca, Baba took the time to check in with the Imperial Eye and learn about Moncanto, specifically about their intelligence arrangements there. Apparently Daran interests in the pirate state are funneled through a corrupt "but stays bribed" man named Jeppo Kanto. Oca is apparently divided into very very bad sections and an immensely wealthy guarded area.
Including a couple of days spent sheltering from a storm, a sincerely unpleasant week is spent on board this little boat, whose name they never learn but from the figure-head might be The Busty Mermaid. By that naming scheme, Moncanto should be called City State of the Giant Ornate Castle.
When they make port, Jeppo is their first stop, armed with a letter of introduction from the Eye in Oca. He is an immensely fat man with bad taste in home decoration (though expensive). He tells them that anything really valuable is sold using the Duke as the fence - only he can provide enough security, and if you don't cut him in your life will be very difficult. If the device and notes in question are going to be sold in this way, Jeppo will undoubtedly be called in for a viewing to try and interest the Daran government in these items, as will the contacts and factors for various others.
They then head out for a quick investigation, but find that Mirella has not fenced the device with any of the magical fences, and that she has already taken leave of her lodging. This leads them to the plaza at the castle gate, where Lucia runs into a cheerful cafe owner who is very up front about being bribed to say who has passed by. He and his staff have not recognized Mirella, but he points them to a coconut seller who apparently spends all day watching the traffic to and from the castle. Purchasing an overpriced coconut, they learn that Mirella has entered the castle early that very morning and has not since emerged.