Swords: 06 - The Third Book of Lost Swords - Stonecutter's Story (10 page)

      
At a word from Almagro the attendant who had escorted them upstairs pointed out the two bodies that had been brought in with knife wounds yesterday afternoon.

      
Whatever the losers of that fight might have possessed in the way of clothing or valuables had of course been stripped from them already, either before or after they arrived at this last stop. By now, Kasimir noted, their eyes were missing as well, evidently the first gourmet morsels to be claimed by the scavengers. One of these reptilian beasts, the size of a large vulture but with iridescent scales, was in attendance now, and flew up heavily with a squeak of protest as the men approached.

      
But certain items of important evidence remained, and it might be possible to learn the essentials, thought Kasimir, even without making a very close examination of these bodies.

      
One of them was that of a red-haired, freckled man whose stocky build and thick limbs indicated that he had been strong, before someone’s narrow blade had opened those thin fatal doorways in his chest.

      
“The treacherous foreman,” Kasimir commented, almost at first glance. He chose to disregard the fact that his words could be heard by Almagro, who was standing back, watching intently to see what his old friend would be able to make of this evidence. There would be no keeping the Captain out of the matter now.

      
Wen Chang, kneeling by the first body, nodded abstractedly. In a moment he had concluded his own examination, and stood up, brushing off his hands.

      
“Treachery is a powerful medicine, and those who rely upon it are likely to die of an overdose. It is easy enough to imagine the scene yesterday. A meeting, somewhere near the river, between the murderous foreman Kovil, and the equally dishonest Eylau merchant, with each principal supported by at least one retainer. From the beginning, an enlightened distrust on both sides, who are strangers to each other. Then, the display of the stolen treasure—a vaster prize than even avarice had imagined—and then the sudden flare of treachery and violence.”

      
In a moment he had turned his attention to the second body. It was that of a stranger to Kasimir, though it ought to have been identifiable, he thought, by anyone who had known the man in life. This fellow too had died of blade wounds, and these wounds were larger, as if made by a full-sized sword, perhaps Stonecutter itself. By all reports eleven of the Twelve—all except Woundhealer-—were fine weapons apart from the magical powers they possessed.

      
“This one has been neither prisoner nor overseer at a quarry in the desert,” Wen Chang muttered after a minute, standing up again. “His skin is everywhere too pale for that. I assume he is some minor criminal of the city.” Then he turned to Almagro and asked: “I would like to see the place where the bodies were found.”

      
“Of course.” They descended from the wall, and Kasimir was able to put away his magic scent. Next Almagro conducted them back into the center of Eylau. Standing on the bank of the river, he pointed out the place where the bodies were said to have been found, drifting in a pool or large eddy on the left bank of the river.

      
The Magistrate looked up and about, slightly upstream.

      
“I see dark stains,” he announced, “upon that windowsill.”

      
Kasimir could see very little at the distance. But along with the Captain he followed the Magistrate into an old building whose empty windows gaped out over the Tungri.

* * *

      
The three investigators entered the building and climbed to an upper level to find that there were still bloodstains on the worn floor.

      
“There is no doubt that the fight took place here,” mused Wen Chang. “And whoever survived took the trouble to dump the bodies into the river, hoping thereby to postpone their discovery. Ah, if only I had been able to inspect this place sooner! Clues have a way of vanishing quickly with the passage of time.”

      
But Wen Chang soon gave up his lamenting and went to work, examining every centimeter of the scene with a thoroughness Kasimir found surprising—not so Almagro, who had evidently seen similar performances in the past.

      
Soon the Magistrate was able to discover, on an inner wall of exposed brickwork, a place where Stonecutter had left its distinctive marks. Kasimir could easily imagine the great Sword, swung in combat, taking a small chunk neatly out of the solid wall—and then, its energy unslowed, going on to cut down someone.

      
Almagro, scowling, looked at the place. He said: “I think you’d better tell me the whole story.”

      
“We shall,” Wen Chang promised.

      
Kasimir asked, “But then who has the Sword now?”

      
“Someone who was strong and fierce and cunning and lucky enough to survive that meeting yesterday. It seems that our task may be only beginning.”

Chapter Nine

      
Still standing in the room where the fight had taken place, Wen Chang and Kasimir completed the job of taking Captain Almagro into their confidence regarding the true nature of their mission in Eylau. The Captain, naturally anxious to hear the whole story, listened eagerly.

      
He had of course heard of the Twelve Swords, and was naturally impressed with the value of such a treasure. “Small wonder, then, that these scum are killing each other over it. And you say the dead man with the red hair was really a foreman on one of the Hetman’s stone quarry gangs?”

      
“I have no doubt that it is the same man. He and a companion brought the Sword here to the city. Doubtless Kovil—that was the foreman’s name—expected that his absence from his post would not cause any problems until they had completed the sale—and once he had his fortune in hand it would no longer matter.”

      
The Captain shook his head. “As a rule those convict-labor places are not very well supervised. Not even the ones with the really dangerous people in them. I don’t doubt he thought he could get away with it.”

      
“And is the quarry in question populated with really dangerous people, as you call them?”

      
“Ardneh bless you, Magistrate, that one gets some of the worst. The worst in the line of ordinary, nonpolitical crooks, I mean. I heard a judge tell a convict that hanging was too good for him, and then send him there for ten years—which in the quarry is the same as life.”

      
“And where, I suppose, even the worst offender may be almost forgotten, and ignored.” Wen Chang looked worried. “Almagro, I want you to arrest Kovil’s hand-picked replacement, Umar, now, and bring him into the city. Preferably to some quiet place where I may be able to question him in privacy, and no one else will pay too much attention. Meanwhile it might be a good idea to preserve the body of the red-haired man, so that Umar can be confronted with it, and shown that at least he has nothing to fear from that quarter any longer. Then, perhaps, he will tell us who Kovil took with him as a companion from the quarry. If Umar still hesitates to tell us the truth about that, a matching of the records at the quarry with the prisoners still actually there may be necessary to tell us who is missing. I want to know the identity of the second man.”

      
“Because he’s most likely the one who has the big knife now.”

      
“Exactly. And, by the way, there is something else that you should know, my friend. A large reward has been promised me if my search in this city can be brought to a successful conclusion. You will remember from our past dealings that I am inclined to share such rewards generously.”

      
“I remember that fact very well, Magistrate! And I’ll certainly see what I can do about fulfilling all your requests. But reward or not, remember that I can promise nothing.”

      
On leaving the riverside building, the three separated. Almagro had plenty of official work to occupy him. Kasimir had an appointment in the afternoon to meet Natalia, and he did not want to miss it. And Wen Chang was now rather anxious to get back to the inn, fearing that in his absence the elderly caller of yesterday might return, and Lieutenant Komi would after all not detain him.

      
Kasimir, hearing this fear expressed as the two walked toward the inn, remarked: “You have little faith in Komi, then?”

      
“I admit that I have some doubts about him.” The Magistrate refused to elaborate on that.

* * *

      
As soon as Kasimir and his mentor arrived at the Inn of the Refreshed Travelers, Wen Chang fired questions at Lieutenant Komi, but the replies were disappointing. The Firozpur officer said he had seen nothing of yesterday’s elderly visitor. There had been a couple of other people in today asking about antique weapons, but when Wen Chang had heard the details of these inquiries he judged neither of them to be of any importance.

      
When Kasimir asked Komi a routine question about his men, the lieutenant responded in a satisfied voice that almost all of them had so far kept out of trouble—the one exception was of small moment, involving as it did only one trooper, and a minor altercation in a tavern, which fortunately had been resolved before anyone had called in the Watch.

      
Wen Chang put in a question: “I don’t suppose it had anything to do with the sale or purchase of antique weapons?”

      
“Nothing whatsoever, sir.”

      
“I thought not. You are continuing to send out winged messengers to your prince?”

      
“I’ve dispatched a couple, sir.”

      
“Have any yet returned?”

      
“No sir.” For the first time in Kasimir’s experience, Komi looked worried. “They say that there are sandstorms over the desert. Flyers going either way might have trouble getting through.”

      
“Too bad. And are your men all present and ready for duty now?”

      
“Yes sir. With one exception.” The lieutenant went on to assure the Magistrate that the one exception was only a trooper—not the same one who had had the fight—who had relatives in what was called the Desert Quarter of the city. It was called that because of the high proportion of former nomads among its population. That trooper had gone, with Komi’s leave, to pay his relatives a brief visit.

      
Wen Chang ordered the officer to grant no more leaves for the moment—the one already authorized could remain in force—and turned to gaze out the third-floor window. The intermittent rain had now stopped for the time being, leaving picturesque puddles in the courtyard. Now, as the sun emerged briefly from behind a cloud, some of these puddles turned to rainbow pools, stained with spilled dye from the cargo of some merchant’s load beasts.

      
Without turning from the window, the Magistrate said to Kasimir: “So far we have observed three different groups in the city, any one of which in my opinion is likely to have the Sword in their possession now, or to very shortly gain possession of it from our mysterious former quarry man. For the time being I intend to concentrate our investigation upon these groups.”

      
Already the sun was gone behind clouds again, and already rain had once more begun to fall, making a steady drip from eaves and gutters just outside the window. Kasimir said: “The first group, I take it, are the authorities at the Red Temple.”

      
“If you wish you may count them as the first—if you include with them the sculptor Robert de Borron.”

      
“Then is it true that you don’t think the Red Temple are really the most likely candidates?”

      
“I did not say that.”

      
Kasimir sighed. “Well, I shall of course find out all that I can about them—and about the sculptor—from Natalia when I see her today.”

      
“Do so by all means. But if she tells you nothing of interest, we may have to institute some stronger measures there—you see, I am interested in the Red Temple. Where and when are you going to meet her?”

      
“Inside the White Temple, in about an hour and a half.” Kasimir at the window tried to judge the height of the clouded sun. “It seemed a good place to arrange a casual encounter.”

      
Wen Chang nodded his approval. “No doubt it will serve.”

      
“So, then, we come to the second group under suspicion. I presume them to be the people at the Blue Temple?”

      
“Yes. Naturally their leaders would want to gain such a treasure if they could. They have probably already convinced themselves that their organization has an inherent right to possess anything so valuable. And I am sure that Mistress Hedmark would seize any opportunity that might arise to use the Sword in her work. Whether she knows that it is nearby and might be available…” Wen Chang shrugged.

      
“I suppose there’s no doubt that Stonecutter would carve a small stone as neatly and easily as a great one?”

      
“In my mind there is none. It is my understanding that the god Vulcan forged that blade to cut stones, and that is precisely what it will do, with divine power. Though neither of us has ever seen the Sword or handled it, we have now seen enough of its work to feel confident on that point.”

      
“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.