Because giving Harry a tie wouldn’t have been enough.

Thomas gave Harry a bow tie.

After Changes when Marcone imports that a castle to stand on the site of Harry's former home the assumption would be that it was Vadderung (directly or through Gard) who suggests that particular one with what turns out to be similar spellwork to Demonreach. Now that it is clear that Namshiel was also advising Marcone by that time, was it his recommendation not Vadderung's?

Butcher seems to be foreshadowing Mab's death and with it Molly becoming overwhelmed.  Combine that with Harry saying he's not trying to get out of the Winter Knight mantle without freeing Molly from hers (and hopefully an answer to his own paralysis) and I wonder if the answer isn't Mab gets killed either as the spark for the BAT or in the first book. Molly goes nuts over the course of a book or so. Harry then uses the Crown of Thorns* to remove the Winter Queen mantle from Molly (and later the Winter Knight mantle from himself). Seems most likely that Lara becomes Winter Queen with maybe Elaine (who was Sidhe trained while with Aurora for years) becoming Winter Lady during the BAT.

*The hypothesis being that thorn manacles were created as a pale imitation of the power of the Crown of Thorns whose power strips immortality and/or a mantle from the wearer.

Cowl has no need to lie in his mind, Harry (and everyone else) are beneath him, and he has completely obscured his identity. However I wonder if Mouse could identify him by scent?

Everybody mortal is beneath a Walker, too, but still He Who Walks Beside works through deceit and manipulation while possessing Justine. Heck, obscuring one's identity is lying to others about who you are. If he has no need to lie he has no need to hide his face.

Listening to Battleground this week I was struck by a "how twisty a twist can Jim twist" thought:  What if the White Council isn't afraid of Harry? What if the Senior Council has been trying to manipulate him via the series of threats they've posed toward him all these years. This would be a more extended version of what He Who Walks Behind did when Harry ran away from Justin. He pretended to be there to kill Harry, but only went at it with a fraction of effort. The Walker's purpose was to scare Harry, test him, and evaluate whether he had what it took for the contest to come in the BAT. Similarly, elements of the Council have been trying to keep Harry off balance with the Doom of Damocles, the threat to hand him over to the Red Court for execution, drafting him into the wardens against his will, placing him again under the Doom of Damocles with Molly, threatening to expel him, and finally expelling him right after he binds a Titan. They've been trying to forge him into their weapon/champion in an abusive manner reminiscent of Justin. The question then becomes how successful they'll be seen to have been at that.

Just a thought.

Here's the references to Toot's height I can find in all the novels:

Stormfront	6"
Summer Knight	About 6"
Small Favor	"About twice as tall"
Turn Coat	12"
Changes	15"
Cold Days	18"
Battleground	30"

Toot's growth in stature both from what he and the Za Guard do themselves combined with his small share of reflected glory from what Harry does, he was five times his original size even before the "Legion of Za" provided air defense for the defenders of Chicago and Harry bound a Titan. How tall will he be next time we see him and will he be as tall as Harry by the end of the BAT?

I have trouble making sense of the exchanges between Sarissa and Harry early in CD when she admits that Mab is making her available as a sexual partner for Harry if virginity is required to be a Lady.

Unless Mab was counting on Harry's Dresdensity, that by having Sarissa tell him that she was there to be available that Harry would ensure she stayed virginal. That seems Mab somehow.

Molly's Mantle reacted violently to Carlos because her physical virginity was being compromised.  Now eventually she might find a way around that or to control that as Harry did the sexual urges of the Winter Knight's Mantle, but at the time she was too new, and it sounds from the story that that was one aspect of being Winter Lady that Mab neglected to explain to her.  Who knows what Mab's motives were, maybe thinking the best way to learn is the hard way...

Much like the way the Raiths don't tell Inari (or Barrowills Carol) about the Hunger that will kill their first sexual partner initiating them into full White Court vampirism.

Oh and one more thing, there is a sexual  double standard in the Winter Court, while the Winter Lady is supposed to remain a virgin, her mantle reacts violently to a sexual encounter.. The Winter Knight sees women as an object to dominate, thus the violent almost overpowering urge to rape.

The Winter Lady's mantle amps up her libido as much as the Winter Knight's thereby making the double standard starker.