diff --git a/mmm/mmmm.go b/mmm/mmmm.go
index 6113c02..7cc3eeb 100644
--- a/mmm/mmmm.go
+++ b/mmm/mmmm.go
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ type MultiMmapManager struct {
 	Dir    string
 	Logger *zerolog.Logger
 
-	layers []*IndexingLayer
+	layers IndexingLayers
 
 	mmapfPath string
 	mmapf     mmap
@@ -169,9 +169,9 @@ func (b *MultiMmapManager) EnsureLayer(name string, il *IndexingLayer) error {
 			if err := il.runThroughEvents(txn); err != nil {
 				return fmt.Errorf("failed to run %s through events: %w", name, err)
 			}
-			return txn.Put(b.knownLayers, []byte(name), binary.LittleEndian.AppendUint16(nil, il.id), 0)
+			return txn.Put(b.knownLayers, []byte(name), binary.BigEndian.AppendUint16(nil, il.id), 0)
 		} else if err == nil {
-			il.id = binary.LittleEndian.Uint16(idv)
+			il.id = binary.BigEndian.Uint16(idv)
 
 			if err := il.Init(); err != nil {
 				return fmt.Errorf("failed to init old layer %s: %w", name, err)
@@ -201,9 +201,13 @@ func (b *MultiMmapManager) DropLayer(name string) error {
 	}
 	il := b.layers[idx]
 
-	// remove layer references from global indexes
+	// remove layer references
 	err := b.lmdbEnv.Update(func(txn *lmdb.Txn) error {
-		return b.removeAllReferencesFromLayer(txn, il.id)
+		if err := b.removeAllReferencesFromLayer(txn, il.id); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+
+		return txn.Del(b.knownLayers, []byte(il.name), nil)
 	})
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -301,7 +305,7 @@ func (b *MultiMmapManager) getNextAvailableLayerId(txn *lmdb.Txn) (uint16, error
 	_, val, err := cursor.Get(nil, nil, lmdb.First)
 	for err == nil {
 		// something was found
-		used[binary.LittleEndian.Uint16(val)] = true
+		used[binary.BigEndian.Uint16(val)] = true
 		// next
 		_, val, err = cursor.Get(nil, nil, lmdb.Next)
 	}
diff --git a/mmm/query.go b/mmm/query.go
index 0db215f..da67084 100644
--- a/mmm/query.go
+++ b/mmm/query.go
@@ -15,10 +15,32 @@ import (
 	"github.com/nbd-wtf/go-nostr"
 )
 
-func (b *MultiMmapManager) queryByIDs(_ context.Context, ch chan *nostr.Event, ids []string) {
+// GetByID returns the event -- if found in this mmm -- and all the IndexingLayers it belongs to.
+func (b *MultiMmapManager) GetByID(id string) (*nostr.Event, IndexingLayers) {
+	events := make(chan *nostr.Event)
+	presence := make(chan []uint16)
+	b.queryByIDs(events, []string{id}, presence)
+	for evt := range events {
+		p := <-presence
+		present := make([]*IndexingLayer, len(p))
+		for i, id := range p {
+			present[i] = b.layers.ByID(id)
+		}
+		return evt, present
+	}
+	return nil, nil
+}
+
+// queryByIDs emits the events of the given id to the given channel if they exist anywhere in this mmm.
+// if presence is given it will also be used to emit slices of the ids of the IndexingLayers this event is stored in.
+// it closes the channels when it ends.
+func (b *MultiMmapManager) queryByIDs(ch chan *nostr.Event, ids []string, presence chan []uint16) {
 	go b.lmdbEnv.View(func(txn *lmdb.Txn) error {
 		txn.RawRead = true
 		defer close(ch)
+		if presence != nil {
+			defer close(presence)
+		}
 
 		for _, id := range ids {
 			if len(id) != 64 {
@@ -30,8 +52,17 @@ func (b *MultiMmapManager) queryByIDs(_ context.Context, ch chan *nostr.Event, i
 			if err == nil {
 				pos := positionFromBytes(val[0:12])
 				evt := &nostr.Event{}
-				if err := b.loadEvent(pos, evt); err == nil {
-					ch <- evt
+				if err := b.loadEvent(pos, evt); err != nil {
+					panic(fmt.Errorf("failed to decode event from %v: %w", pos, err))
+				}
+				ch <- evt
+
+				if presence != nil {
+					layers := make([]uint16, 0, (len(val)-12)/2)
+					for s := 12; s < len(val); s += 2 {
+						layers = append(layers, binary.BigEndian.Uint16(val[s:s+2]))
+					}
+					presence <- layers
 				}
 			}
 		}
@@ -44,7 +75,7 @@ func (il *IndexingLayer) QueryEvents(ctx context.Context, filter nostr.Filter) (
 	ch := make(chan *nostr.Event)
 
 	if len(filter.IDs) > 0 {
-		go il.mmmm.queryByIDs(ctx, ch, filter.IDs)
+		il.mmmm.queryByIDs(ch, filter.IDs, nil)
 		return ch, nil
 	}
 
diff --git a/mmm/save.go b/mmm/save.go
index 334ac7a..1b767b7 100644
--- a/mmm/save.go
+++ b/mmm/save.go
@@ -147,15 +147,15 @@ func (b *MultiMmapManager) storeOn(
 		return false, nil
 	}
 
-	// find a suitable place for this to be stored in
+	// get event binary size
 	pos := position{
 		size: uint32(betterbinary.Measure(*evt)),
 	}
-
 	if pos.size >= 1<<16 {
 		return false, fmt.Errorf("event too large to store, max %d, got %d", 1<<16, pos.size)
 	}
 
+	// find a suitable place for this to be stored in
 	appendToMmap := true
 	for f, fr := range b.freeRanges {
 		if fr.size >= pos.size {