‘Yes, yes, yes,’ said the surgeon. ‘This is all very interesting. But what we have here is a man dead in a locked bedroom, the instrument of his demise in his hand. We will never know what was going on in his mind at the time of his death. I understand his beloved nephews were killed only days ago. His brain was obviously unhinged by grief.’
Eldicar Manushan laughed, the sound horribly contrasting to the bloody scene within the room. ‘Unhinged? Indeed he must have been. For he was so frightened of the thought of being killed he surrounded his house with guards and dogs. Then, once he was safe, he cut his throat. I would agree that sounds unhinged.’
‘You believe he was murdered, sir?’ asked the young surgeon, icily.
The magicker walked to the window and gazed down at the grounds below the balcony. He swung back. ‘If he was murdered, young man, then he would have to have been killed by a man who could move in utter silence through a screen of guards and vicious dogs, scale a wall, commit the deed and depart without being seen or scented.’
‘Precisely,’ said the surgeon, turning to Lord Aric. ‘I shall send for the morgue wagon, my lord, and prepare a report.’
With that the young man bowed to Aric, nodded towards Eldicar Manushan, and left the room.
Aric looked at the grotesque bloated body upon the bed, then swung to the two officers of the watch. ‘Go and question the servants and the guards. See if anyone heard or saw anything – no matter how inconsequential it may have seemed at the time.’
The men saluted and walked away. Eldicar Manushan moved from the window and pushed shut the bedroom door. ‘Would you like to know what really happened?’ he asked softly.
‘He killed himself,’ whispered Aric. ‘No one could have got to him.’
‘Let us ask him.’
Eldicar stepped to the bedside and laid his hand upon the dead merchant’s brow. ‘Hear me,’ whispered the magicker. ‘Return from the Void and flow once more into this ruined shell. Come back to the world of pain. Come back to the world of light.’
The bloated body spasmed, and a choking, gargling noise came from the throat. The body began to tremble violently. Eldicar thrust his fingers into the man’s mouth and dragged out a rolled-up ball of parchment. Hissing breath blew from the dead man’s lung, and the remnants of his blood bubbled from the wound in his throat.
‘Speak, Vanis,’ ordered Eldicar Manushan.
‘Grey . . . Man . . .’ croaked the corpse. The body sagged back, arms and legs twitching. Eldicar Manushan clapped his hands twice. ‘Return to the pit,’ he said coldly. All movement ceased.
The magicker glanced at the ashen face of Lord Aric, then lifted the wet ball of parchment he had pulled from the merchant’s throat. He opened it and spread it on the bedside table.
‘What is it?’ whispered Aric, taking a scented handkerchief from his pocket and holding it to his nose.
‘It appears to be the contract for the debt the Grey Man waived. It contains all the promises made by Vanis for repayment.’ Eldicar laughed again. ‘One might say that Vanis was forced to eat his words before his demise.’
‘I shall have him arrested!’
‘Do not be a fool. I told you the game was not yet over. What evidence will you offer against him? Will you say that the dead man spoke to you? I do not wish that to happen. Great events will soon be upon us, Aric. The dawn of a new age. This matter is closed. As the surgeon said, Vanis took his life in a moment of terrible grief.’
‘How did the Grey Man do it? The guards, the dogs . . .’
‘What do we know of him?’
‘Very little. He came here some years ago from the south. He has business interests in all the great trading nations, Gothir, Chiatze, Drenan, Ventria. He owns a huge fleet of merchant vessels.’
‘And no one knows where he comes from?’
‘No – not for sure. Lalitia enjoys his favours, but when I spoke with her she said he never talks about his past. She believes he has been a soldier, though she does not know with which army, and he speaks with knowledge about all the countries with which he has dealings.’