Exactly who was watching Justine and why?

We know Lara had her people watching Justine.  That makes sense.
Harry hired Goodman Grey to watch Justine.  That makes sense.
People from the Chicago PD and the local FBI office were watching Justine.  Why?

Goodman Grey told Harry that Agent Tilly wasn’t involved; as far as he good see, but it was people from the same local FBI office.  Could these FBI agents have been doing surveillance for the benefit of the Librarian’s?  I imagine these “Men in Black” are small in number and might occasionally need help from other more traditional Federal agencies, but that’s just a guess.

That still doesn’t tell us why the Librarians or any mortal agency would be interested in Justine.  Someone would have to have some pretty detailed records about the White Court to want to put surveillance on her or at least know that she was Thomas Raith’s lover and that he was involved in a hit of a major supernatural power.
 
However, that knowledge could only come from someone well connected within the supernatural community.  So not someone like the Alphas or most paraneters, with the exception of Paranoid Gary.  It could have come from within any of the major powers, but that doesn’t tell us why someone in the know would share that information with mortals.  However, for the sake of argument let’s say someone traded this information with the Librarians.  What about the Chicago PD?

My guess is that whoever started the investigation against Harry and Murphy was the same group or person who put Chicago PD personnel to watch Justine, but why?  She had nothing to do with the break in at Marcone’s bank.  Originally, I thought that whoever was working for the Outsiders was behind Rudolph and his partner, but why would HWWBs put surveillance on itself?  This suggests another party is involved.  Just a guess, but we haven’t heard anything about the late Wizard Peabody’s partner; the one whose presence Harry felt on Demonreach, since Turn Coat.  Whoever was responsible, it doesn't explain how they gained enough influence within the Chicago PD to get the investigation started.
 
These are just rough guesses.  They are not even deeply worked out WAG’s. 

Another name for this thread was:
Battle Ground secrets - What should Harry do about them

1.  Of course, the big reveal was that Marcone is now a Knight of the Blackened Denarius.  I suppose if Butters or Sanya need to know this, their boss will point them at Marcone.  However, it seems rude for Harry to keep this knowledge to himself, especially as Butters and Sanya are friends, not someone he would have to trade favor for favor with.  Plus, it wasn’t information Harry learned in confidence, Harry doesn’t owe Marcone anything. 

You’d think Lara Raith would like to know about this, seeing that her and Marcone are rivals even if they are not outright enemies.  If Harry; as a representative of Winter, is supposed to play nice with the White Court of Vampires, it might be a piece of information he should be willing to trade with Lara, if not tell her outright.
 
Mab really, really doesn’t like Thorned Namshiel.  She knows a lot, but I wonder if she knows who Marcone’s new friend is.  All Harry would have to say to Mab is “I know who holds Thorned Namshiel’s coin” to see if Mab is interested.  She may already know, but if Mab didn’t know it would be nice trading chip for Harry to have.
   
2.  Mab sees some benefit to an alliance between Winter and the White Court. (This isn't the secret.) Somehow, I don’t think the White Council will be happy about this.  Related to this, there is an old secret Harry has kept; he knows the weakness of the White Court of Vampires.  Harry knows that Lara and every other member of the White Court (or at least House Raith) can’t feed on him; for the time being, because of his love protection. 

My feeling is this information was something Thomas told Harry in confidence.  It’s not something Harry should tell the White Council, not that they want to talk to him anyway.   Even if Harry did tell anyone on the Council, they wouldn’t believe him.  I have to admit I would like to see Harry try to explain to Eb or Carlos why Lara isn't a threat to him, especially if the arranged marriage between Harry and Lara takes place.

3.  Harry met the third Walker, HWWBsd and he knows that the Walker has possessed Justine and has done so for some time.  I thought it was interesting that Lara understood this.  She didn’t want to say the name Nemesis out loud so she’s fully clued in.  I wonder how Lara found out.  Did Harry tell her or had she known for years?  I figure Lara knew about HWWB from listening in to the encounter Harry had with her father in Blood Rites, but I don’t think the Walker’s name was said out loud.
 
The problem with this information is there is no useful way to convey it to the Swartalfs.  Harry doesn’t know if Etri knows about Nemesis and the Walkers, and even if Etri does know, Harry doesn’t have any proof he could offer in order to get the Swartalfs  to back off Thomas, assuming Thomas gets freed from Demonreach anytime soon and assuming Etri would see it as a valid reason to back off.

4.  Harry has learned that the Redcap works for Mab.  As a side note, the Redcap’s a more interesting character now, he's no longer a two-dimensional bad guy.  While I expect Harry to warn Molly at some point, my guess is that after being trained by Lea and having seen how Mab works, Molly already knows.

5. Harry knows that Listen and Drakul are also Starborn.  Maybe that's important, maybe not.  Maybe Harry can figure out a way to feed Listen to Drakul.  Drakul likes to eat Starborn.   

6. The Stars and Stones. No one seems to want to clue Harry in on what that expression means.  Outside of asking Bonea; which would probably be a really stupid and dangerous thing to do, there isn't much Harry can do with this information.  Then again, now that Harry is out of the Council where else can he go to find out?  Sooner or later Harry is going to have to tap into the well of knowledge that Bonea possesses.  Perhaps Harry will think that is the only way he can find out.  Unless, Harry can find out what Stars and Stones means in the Mirror Mirror universe.

7.  The Librarians.  OK, the bigwigs in the supernatural world know about them, but Harry had never heard of them before.  (Unless they were mentioned in a short story.  Harry briefly tangled with some men in black in one of the short stories.)  Sooner or later, Harry's going to have to meet with one or more of the Librarians.  Maybe they'll talk about the Dewey Decimal system.  Probably not.   

8.  Harry's a wolf.  Not really a secret, a lot of people call Harry a wolf.  Ebenezer, The Erlking, Mab; I mean you'd think the Alphas would be jealous seeing as they really become wolves.  I'm looking forward to see Harry howl at the moon or do some other wolf like things.
     

No, the title of this thread isn’t a joke or an attempt at a clever play on words.  I’m am quite serious when say there are no continuity errors in the Dresden Files novels, many of us just think there are.  Let me also state that the idea that various discrepancies of the descriptions of things, names and events; particularly in Peace Talks, that have been pointed out by many readers, are not due to poor editing or the failure of the Beta readers to point out these discrepancies to Jim.  Let me put it another way, these things aren’t bugs in the story telling, they’re a feature.  My guess is I am not the only reader to have figured this out, just the first to put it in writing on this forum.  For all I know someone on Reddit has already laid this all out.  Also, I’m not claiming Jim has been perfect, that he hasn’t made any mistakes.  He’s human after all.  It’s just that the vast majority of any mistakes; and any deliberate retcons, are covered by what Jim has actually been doing.
 
The big clue that most of us missed; including myself, was in Skin Game.  It’s so obvious I can’t believe it took me this long to figure it out.  I’ll just quote directly from chapter 14, but skip the dialog and edit the scene a bit.  It’s the one where Harry is dreaming.  No, not the sex fantasy part of it.

“…as I caught up to the action that was happening in the dream, it would roar off in a different direction… The whole while, I was conscious of several other Harry Dresdens in the dream, all of them operating a little ways off from me, doing their own confusion dance in parallel to mine…..

Harry then talks to Molly and they discover that they are somehow communicating with each other over a vast distance while both of them are dreaming.  At this point Harry sees himself in his old car, the Blue Beetle, with Molly sitting beside him.  After the dialog ends this happens.

“… I was suddenly driving in a small herd of Blue Beetles, all of them filled with slightly different versions of Harry Dresden and Molly Carpenter.  I had to slalom the VW through them….. The traffic got worse and worse and more confusing, and then there was a loud screech of tires and twisting metal, a bright light, and a sensation of tumbling and falling in an exaggerated graceful slow motion.”

The first part of the dream sequence that I quoted uses the word parallel in it.  I don’t think that’s an accident.  This is the part of the clue that seals the deal for me.  The second part of the dream sequence; the part where all the different Harry and Molly’s are coming together and there’s a crash, that’s telling us that things are coming to a head.  Harry can’t understand this, but we can because we know that a confrontation is coming up with a Harry from a radically different universe in Mirror Mirror.  The evidence that this dream isn’t a dream at all, but our Harry’s universe coming in close proximity to the other universes, is the fact that Harry and Molly’s communication with one another is real.  They aren’t dreaming.  That means the things Harry perceives in what he thinks is a dream are also real.
 
So, to put it plainly, the Dresden Files are occurring in multiple parallel universes, at the same time.  In the ones where Harry sees “slightly different versions of Harry Dresden and Molly Carpenter,” the same major events have occurred.  Harry has wiped out the Red Court, the Fomor have risen up from the deep and are at war with the White Council and other various supernatural powers, Harry isn’t trusted by most of the White Council, Harry’s relationship with his boss Mab, is strained at the best of times and Harry’s relationship with John Marcone appears to be near the point of breaking into outright hostility.  I could list several other points of congruence, but I’m sure you get the general idea.
 
In at least one parallel world, Mort Lindquist has purchased, and lives in a home with a particular architectural style, while in another parallel universe Mort lives in a different neighborhood in a home with a different architecture style.  In either universe Harry knows Mort’s address and their interactions with one another are identical or nearly so.  In one parallel universe the Churchmice stole the Shroud of Turin for John Marcone, but Nicodemus and company stole the shroud and murdered two members of the Churchmice before Marcone could take delivery.  In another parallel universe the Churchmice were contracted by Nicodemus to steal the Shroud of Turin, but Marcone offered them more money so they headed to Chicago and Nicodemus murdered two of them in return.  In at least one universe the Chicago anti-Fomor alliance calls themselves The Brighter Future Society while in another universe they call their alliance The Better Future Society.  In at least one of the worlds with a Better Future Society, Harry had never been to Marcone’s castle in the flesh before Peace Talks, because the meeting between Marcone and Mab that took place in Skin Game occurred at a different Marcone property or possibly at Mac’s or even Arctis Tor.  It doesn’t matter where that meeting took place, as long as it wasn’t at the castle and it was a place that Harry could discover and go to.  I could go on, but you’re probably getting worn out by now.

I think you can see how Jim making the story flow through multiple parallel universes also neatly explains likely retcons, such as Harry’s ability to use a wind spell to literally fly up from the lower floor of Victor Sells home to the second floor and make a nice landing in Storm Front, to Harry saying in a later book that flying spells are extremely dangerous and a thing he learned to avoid after trying to create a flying broom.  In one universe Harry can fly, at least a little.
 
Finally, I said that parallel universes can cover most mistakes, but I didn’t say they could cover every mistake.  I don’t know if this final example I will pull from Peace Talks is a mistake, but it appears to me that even a parallel universe doesn’t entirely fix its problems.  Ramirez used a dot of magical ink to track Harry to the Raith Estate.  While it’s possible that in one universe Harry and Ramirez shook hands instead of bumping fists; and this allowed Carlos the ability stick the ink spot on Harry’s wrist, in either universe Butters should have washed the dot away when he cleaned and debrided the wounds on Harry’s hands.  I’m not saying it’s impossible to find an explanation that makes the magical ink stick and not be noticed by Butters; and do so in both universes, but the more complicated the explanation the less believable it becomes.
 
One minor thing to note.  While it’s possible we will see some evidence to back up my analysis in Battle Ground, I don’t expect to be fully vindicated until Mirror Mirror comes out.

Well that started off with a bang, but there wasn't much there to suggest where the story is heading.  (Other than it's going to be bloody.)  However, I do have to say that seeing  

I don't know about anyone else, but after hearing Jim say that Peace Talks was going to contain a very high level of supernatural violence, I was somewhat disappointed by the amount of action we got in the first book.  It looks like Battle Ground may make up for that decided lack of action, though at the same time I hope that Harry will soon get the time he needs to start thinking like a detective, and to start acting rather than just reacting. 

Back in Turn Coat, Harry realized that Peabody had a partner with him on Demonreach Island, someone who was never identified.  Harry didn't even tell Ebenezer he knew this for a fact.  Ebenezer thought it was just speculation on Harry's part.  So, we know it can't be Ebenezer, LTW, Ancient Mai or any of the older wardens who were with them.  As possible suspects who are at the talks that leaves Martha Liberty, Cristos and the younger wardens.

We know next to nothing about Martha Liberty so there's nothing that really points to her.  She once said of Harry to Ebenezer, "You know what he was meant to be?"  That's such a vague comment it doesn't mean anything in this context.  Cristos looks more like a dupe than a serious player, so unless he's just playing stupid I don't think it's him.  More important, Ebenezer warned Harry that he is likely to be betrayed by someone he trusts and that sure isn't Gregori Cristos.  Of course, it might be argued that Ebenezer unwittingly betrayed Harry by the way he acted on the dock, but he wasn't the person who was with Peabody.  (Also, it would kill my WAG; make that educated guess, so it totally can't be Eb.)  That leaves the younger wardens, Harry's closest friends on the White Council and the members who actually look up to Harry.  (or at least they used to) 

Now it's possible that in Battle Ground some White Council reinforcements might arrive, but I can't think of any of them that Harry particularly trusts.  I'm guessing that Rashid will remain at the Outer Gates with Mab and Harry doesn't trust the Merlin or Ancient Mai; in fact, Harry would be looking for a sucker punch of some kind from Arthur Langtry.  I know I left out Anastasia Luccio, but after one of the wardens (I think it was Chandler) said that Luccio had ordered them to keep an eye on Harry, I don't think Harry would be too trusting of her either.  Plus, the mind whammy she had been under would always be in the back of Harry's mind.   

So, if the second traitor is at the Peace Talks I'm guessing it is one of the young wardens.  The natural suspect is Carlos Ramirez.  He's the one we know best and the one that Harry probably trusts, or trusted, the most.  Actually, Harry might be angry with Ramirez and company, but he probably still believes that they're all good guys, even if they don't particularly trust Harry at the moment.  Carlos told Harry that he voted to retain him in the White Council, which is exactly what someone who wanted to keep or regain Harry's trust would say.  We also know that Carlos is suffering, I'll just call it PTSD, after his near deadly encounter with Molly.  However, that incident occurred long after the events on Demonreach.  It's not something we can use to tie him to Peabody. 

So my guess is that Carlos Ramirez is a red herring and the real traitor is Warden Chandler.  He's the warden who went most out of his way to play good cop when the wardens stopped Harry outside the Raith compound.  Of the younger wardens, he's the one who is most trusted by the Senior Council and probably the one most trusted by Captain Luccio, because she's his boss and probably the person who assigned him to guard duty outside the Edinburgh complex.  A traitor wouldn't want to be working a territory in the field (unless it's a key area) if they could avoid it, they would do everything they could to put themselves near the seat of power and that fits Chandler, perfectly.  Finally, Chandler is also the warden who didn't get himself locked up during the events in Changes.  Exactly what a smart spy would do.

I'm discounting Warden's Wild Bill and Yoshimo because we don't know very much about them.  We've seen Harry talk to Wild Bill on the phone and I think Yoshimo made an appearance in Dead Beat, and both wardens were in one of the short stories. (War Cry, I believe.)  We haven't seen either of them build up any degree of trust with Harry.  Now I'm going to have to go back and reread every conversation Harry has had with Chandler.  If there are any clues they're going to be really minor ones, but I won't be surprised if there aren't any.  Anyway that's my guess, what do you think?

So corner hounds; A.K.A. the Hounds of Tindalos, are attracted by time travelers.  However, Ebenezer told Harry that, "Someone just whistled them up."  So someone summoned them.  My guess is the practitioner would have just summoned Outsiders in general and the corner hounds responded because Ebenezer had been doing some recent time travel.  An alternative is Ebenezer crossed paths with another practitioner (Black Council) who followed Ebenezer back to Harry's present, or sent his current self a message, and this person specifically called up the corner hounds to target Ebenezer.  I think that alternative is too complicated; after all these books aren't called the Ebenezer chronicles, so there's no need for that level of complication.

So, either someone like Cowl called up the corner hounds; even if Cowl never makes a public appearance in Battle Ground, or someone who was a part of the White Council contingent to the peace talks, called them in.

I'm not taking a position on this question.  We don't have a significant positive clue to point either way.  However, there is one odd thing that I would call a negative clue.  (I know there are other, more accurate terms than positive and negative clues, but I can't think of what they are at the moment.) 

To get to the point, why didn't Warden Ramirez notice that one of Harry's hands had been bandaged since he had seen him on the beach that morning?  I'm thinking that after Harry had punched a gas tank and had the wound or wounds on the hand debrided, Butter's would have used something a hell of a lot larger than a couple of band-aids to cover them.

It may be a clue the Ramirez already knew that Harry had tangled with corner hounds and had injured his hand or it could be sloppy writing on Jim's part.  I wonder if any of the beta readers noticed this?  Yes, I know that Ramirez and company were preoccupied with Harry's visit to the Raith compound, but Harry's hand should have been noticeable.  In fact, any of the other wardens should have noticed Harry recently bandaged hand and asked him about it.  Hell, Lara should have asked Harry about it.  Even if; one, the guilty party didn't see that Harry injured his hand, or; two, none of the wardens are guilty of calling up the corner hounds, they should have noticed Harry's wounded hand.  Harry explaining that he had tangled with outsiders a few hours earlier would have added an interesting complication to that conversation.

While I'm at it, shouldn't Harry have mentioned the corner hounds at the security meeting with the other wardens before the dinner?  Aside from discussing the possibility of other assassination attempts after Etri was attacked, the fact that Outsiders had been called up by an unknown party should have made that meeting more than a, "boring all-business meeting" as was stated at the beginning of chapter 19.

I hate saying this, but this is another indication to me that the process of splitting the story into two books took time and effort away from finding and fixing the errors or weaknesses in the overall text. 

I just finished listening to the audio book version of Peace Talks after having read it about 10-11 days ago.  I didn't noticed the first time through that Harry gave Alfred instructions that Thomas can only speak to another prisoner if that prisoner is undergoing the same punishment, and there's only one other prisoner whose doing the contemplation thing.

The alternative is that after talking to Thomas the British prisoner will speak to Harry.  However it plays out, what do you think will be learned from all this.  I have a feeling it will be about a cure for Thomas that involves Excalibur.  There might also be some information about how to breach that special bronze armor the Titan's wearing.