“I agree with you that Mistress Hedmark will be trying to get her hands on it if she can.”
“Yes . . . Kasimir, I am of two minds about going public with our search. I mean spreading the word as widely as possible that the Sword is lost, and that it is definitely the property of Prince al-Farabi-which is close enough to the exact truth for our purposes. There are certainly difficulties, but still it will be well to have made that point, so that when the Sword is recovered the Prince’s claim will be well established.”
“You said ‘when the Sword is recovered,’ Magistrate. I admire your confidence.”
Wen Chang smiled dryly. “It is a useful quality.”
Kasimir paused for a moment, cleared his throat, and shook his head. “So, after the Blue Temple we come to the third group of suspects, who, I take it, must be the gang- if that is the right word for an organization some of whose members must be quite respectable-associated with the crooked merchant, lately deceased. Judging by what we have heard of them so far, they would cheerfully try to steal the wings off a demon, if they thought they had even the remotest chance of getting away with it.”
“You are probably correct. On the other hand, the professional criminals might be easier for us to deal with in one respect at least. They might be willing to collect a ransom and return their loot to al-Farabi or his representatives. And they might even be disposed to be reasonable about the price, considering that the alternative would be severe prosecution-perhaps I mean persecution-by the authorities. We could certainly collaborate with our friend the Captain in an effort to provide that.” Wen Chang fell silent, regarding his younger friend attentively, as if waiting for his reaction.
Kasimir considered. “So, the question becomes, which of these three groups actually has, or is most likely to get, Stonecutter? If Kovil’s mysterious bodyguard carried it away from the scene of the fight by the river, has he yet managed to sell it to one of them? Or possibly to someone else altogether?”
The Magistrate’s eyes were even narrower than usual. “It would not be wise to dissipate our energies too widely. We will concentrate upon the three groups that I have named.”
Kasimir found himself a little irritated by the dogmatic tone of that last sentence. “Of course, you are in charge of the investigation. Though I suppose it is possible that the Sword of Siege is really with someone else altogether?”
“Yes, many things are possible.” Wen Chang’s tone was even; if Kasimir had hoped to provoke an explanation he was disappointed. “Nevertheless, I repeat, we are going to confine our attentions to those three groups, at least for now. So you had better prepare yourself for your meeting with the agent you have recruited to spy on the Red Temple.”
The physician needed only a few minutes to complete the few preparations he thought necessary. When he was ready to go, he paused on his way out. “There is one other matter that I cannot stop wondering about: the identity of our original thief, whose body we found buried at the quarry. Perhaps it is only because I actually saw him in the act; I suppose that it hardly matters any longer who he was.”
The Magistrate hesitated. Then he said: “On the contrary, I should say that it matters a great deal.”
“Eh? Why?”
Wen Chang leaned back in his chair. “There are several interesting points about that man. To begin with, there is the fascinating fact that, as you describe the event, he found it necessary to slit the wall of your tent twice.”
“I admit that I puzzled for some time over that detail. But I could see no good reason for it.”
“Perhaps you are not approaching the question properly. Of course your attitude may be justified-people sometimes do unreasonable, inexplicable things.”
“Yes, they do. You said you found more than one point about the man to be interesting?”
“I consider it also very interesting that the thief was working from the start in accordance with a plan, that the theft was not the mere seizing of an opportunity.”
“Well, the only real evidence for his having a plan, it seems to me, is the fact that he brought along an extra riding-beast. Indicating, of course, that he intended to rescue the first prisoner from the road-building gang. But he did not bring along two extra mounts. So we may deduce that the second rescue, that of the prisoner at the quarry, was not planned from the start. It was an improvisation, undertaken perhaps only at the suggestion of the first prisoner to gain the freedom of someone else.”
“Very good, Kasimir! We will make an investigator of you yet. What else have you been able to deduce from these facts?”
“Well-nothing as yet.”
“As you continue your efforts there are a couple points you ought to keep in mind. First, no one is likely to steal one of the Twelve Swords with the sole object of using it to free a prisoner from that road-building gang. That could be accomplished much more easily …” Wen Chang’s voice trailed off. His eyes appeared to be gazing at something in the distance, over Kasimir’s shoulder.
“Magistrate?”
“A thought has struck me. Never mind, go to your meeting. Learn all that you can from the interesting Natalia. What you learn may be of great importance.”
Kasimir set out, pondering the situation as he walked. He had to pay careful attention to where he was going, because his goal this time was in a different part of the city from those which he had previously visited.
The White Temple of Eylau, like most of its kind around the world, was a large, pyramidal building. This example was faced with white marble, while a good many others Kasimir had seen were only painted white. And in this building, as in almost all White Temples everywhere, a good part of its sizable volume was devoted to hospital facilities. Here no one who came seeking food or medical care or emergency shelter would be turned away. Nor would anyone be absolutely forced to pay, though donations were solicited from all who appeared able to give anything at all.
Kasimir’s appointment with Natalia was in the Chapel of Ardneh, also a standard feature of most White Temples. Here the chapel was located about halfway up the slope-sided structure. It was a white, large room, well lighted by many windows in its slanting outer wall. The room held a number of plain wooden chairs and benches. Above the altar an Old World votive light burned steadily, a pure whiteness without flame or smoke. The altar itself was dominated by a modern image of the ancient god Ardneh. Images of Ardneh as a rule-this one was no exception- were almost always at least partially abstract, in keeping with the idea that the eternal foe of the archdemon Orcus was essentially different from all other gods.
This particular image was an assemblage of bronze blocks and slabs, looking eerily bluish because of some quality in the perpetual glow of the votive light above.
Kasimir took a seat near the middle of the simply furnished chapel and looked around him, at the few others who had come to this place for worship or meditation.
There was one more statue in the chapel, this one of the god Draffut. Carved of some brown stone, it stood in its own niche or grotto off to one side. In this image, as tall as a man, the popular Lord of Beasts and of Healing looked like nothing more, Kasimir thought, than a dog standing on his hind legs. During the last few years a rumor had swept across the land to the effect that Draffut was recently dead; of course a great many people held that the Beastlord, like the other gods, had been dead for many years. Meanwhile considerable numbers of folk continued to insist that some of the gods or all of them were still alive, and would come back one day to call people to account for what they had been doing in the divinities’ absence.
Natalia entered the chapel shortly after Kasimir had arrived, and came quietly to take a chair beside his. She was dressed in a skirt and blouse and sandals with narrow straps, more citified clothing than when Kasimir had seen her last, though hardly of any higher quality.
“Hope I’m not late,” she whispered demurely.
“Not at all.” Actually he had rather enjoyed the interval of waiting, the chance for peaceful meditation. He might not want to work all day in a White Temple, but they were good places to visit, havens where you could sit as long as you wished and not be bothered, unless it might be by one of your fellow visitors. Street people now and then came in to take up collections for this or that, or frankly as beggars. None were ejected, as a rule, unless others complained about them to the White Guards.