“Maybe it would just be easier to stake the guy.”
“That wouldn’t solve the problem, though. It would just make it harder. And if he happens to be your ally, or mine? You could be sacrificing someone who’d make the difference.”
“True. True. I wish I knew which side you were on. . . .”
“I’m not so sure that would be a good idea just yet. We may work together better for not knowing it.”
“‘Work together. . . .’ On the guard duty business, you mean?”
“I had a little more in mind, for us, right now, if you’ve got a little time.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“I’ll have to tell you a little of my calculations, but that’s all right. Rastov has probably duplicated them by now…”
“_You_ are the calculator in your pair?”
“That’s right. Now, I propose telling you something, and then we’ll go and check it out. No matter what we find, we’ll learn something from it which will put us a little ahead.”
“Of course I’ll come.”
“Good. My calculations show that one possible center of manifestation is that ruined church near where the Count is making his quarters. I don’t know whether this is by accident or design. But either way it means that we can only check it by daylight. We’d better do it now, though, if there are going to be Gipsy guards around later.”
“What exactly do you want to check?”
“I want you to slither down into the place and see whether it’s suitable or whether there’s not enough left for it to be our center. I’m too big to fit down the opening. I’ll stand watch above and let you know if anyone comes by.”
“I’ll do it,” he hissed. “Let’s be on our way.”
We started out.
“And you’ll have to use your imagination, too. It may look bad, but if it could easily be enlarged by a few men with picks and shovels, tell me.”
“Does this mean that Larry Talbot is a player?”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “It’s one of the places it might be.”
“What are the others?”
“Let’s not get greedy,” I said.
We made our way through the wood. When we reached the clearing there were no Gipsies about, nor anyone else.
“Check the crypt first,” I said. “You’ve gotten me wondering whether he’s still using it.”
Quicklime slithered into its opening. A little later he returned.
“He’s there,” he reported, “and so’s Needle. Both of them are asleep.”
“Good. All right. Try the church now.”
I paced about, sniffing the breezes, watching the trees. No one was near, no one approached.
In a little while Quicklime emerged.
“No,” he said. “It’s a complete disaster, filled with dirt and rocks. Nothing’s left. We’d have to start over again and rebuild.”
I approached the opening, forced myself in as far as I could. It narrowed quickly to the crack down which he had taken his way.
“How far back in that crack did you get?”
“Ten feet, maybe. There were two side ways off of it. Neither goes as far.”
I believed him, from what I could see.
“So what does it mean?” he asked.
“That this isn’t the place,” I replied.
“Then what is?”
I thought quickly. I didn’t like giving anything to the competition. But in this case one real fact could be misleading; and it was a fact he’d learn sooner or later, anyhow.
I backed out of the opening, turned toward the woods.
“Vicar Roberts,” I said, “has a good disguise as a fanatic churchman. . . .”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s a player.”
“You’re joking!”
“No. He holds midnight services to the Elder Gods, right there in the church.”
“The vicar . . . ?”
“Check it out,” I told him.
“What does that do to the pattern?”
“I’ve calculated that if we count the vicar and drop Larry Talbot that places the vicarage and the church at the center of the pattern. This isn’t final if the Count is moving around, of course, but that’s how it looks right now if we figure it this way.”
“The vicar . . .” he repeated.