The Invisible Library (27 page)

Irene returned the other woman’s glare. ‘
We were attacked by Alberich on our way back here.
’ She decided to leave Kai’s contribution out of it. ‘
He
trapped us in a carriage in the river and left us to drown. We escaped, but after that I had to give Vale some sort of explanation.
’

Now she recognized the churning in her guts, the uncertainty in her mind. It was the nervous reaction she always used to get when reporting to Bradamant, decades back, when she had been a
student and Bradamant had been mentoring her in the field. It was, apparently, something she still had to get over, if she could figure out how.

Bradamant hadn’t been the type to insist on formality while Irene reported back. No, they’d always sat together or facing each other, as comfortable as one could
possibly
ask.
And every time Irene had tried to explain something, she had been wrong. Always.

Bradamant considered the reply, clearly looking for holes. ‘
You could have given him a story about a secret society,
’ she said. ‘
That’s what I told Inspector
Singh.
’

Irene was going to answer in the negative again, say something like
I didn’t think that it would work
or
I couldn’t think of a way to make it convincing
, when she felt
Kai’s eyes on her. He clearly understood what they were saying. He was looking at her with something that took her a moment to identify as trust, as expectation that she could handle things.
She had to deserve that trust.

She composed herself, took a firm grip on her cup of coffee, and turned to meet Bradamant’s eyes. ‘
I took a field decision that Vale would be more useful and cooperative if he
knew the truth – well, some of the truth,
’ she said. ‘
In this place and time, I am not a courtier to present an opinion to a king, but a general in the field, expected to
handle things as they arise for the good of the Library. Vale is a highly intelligent man, well informed on the current situation and trained in noticing discrepancies. Alberich had already made
reference to the Library, and I was forced to use my own abilities to break free from his trap.
’ Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kai relax a fraction, leaning back into his chair.
‘
An incomplete story would only have roused Vale’s distrust. We have enough enemies in this place and time as it is . . . Belphegor.
’

Bradamant snorted. ‘
My actions were a valid response to the
situation.
’

‘
Do you still have the books?
’

Bradamant hesitated a moment. Possibly she could guess what Irene was about to suggest. ‘
I do. Some of them are rarities, you know. They would be appreciated by other
Librarians.
’

‘
I have no doubt,
’ Irene said wryly. ‘
You have always had excellent taste. But it may be necessary to return those stolen books to their owners in order to secure
cooperation.
’

Bradamant put down her toast very deliberately, and stared at Irene. ‘
You have no authority to order me to do such a thing. Or are you planning to turn me over to your new friends
instead?
’

‘
Don’t be ridiculous,
’ Irene said, and tried to ignore the mental voice that pointed out that yes, it would certainly convince Vale and Singh that she was on their side.
And Bradamant could easily escape from any prison cell anyway. ‘
I am assuming that you were sent by one of our superiors. Why?
’

‘
To find the Grimm book,
’ Bradamant answered. ‘
And yes, let me reassure you: I do have orders from one of our superiors to that effect.
’

Irene tried not to show her relief. Bradamant was still loyal to the Library. A number of unpleasant possibilities had just been ruled out. Even if there was some sort of internal dispute going
on inside the Library about who was supposed to be fetching the damned book, at least she didn’t have to worry about Bradamant being in league with Alberich. ‘
It’s possible
that our target is one of those books that’s linked to the whole alternate,
’ she said. ‘
The fact that Alberich’s after it shows just how important it is. And you
could only know of my mission from someone highly placed. Surely these factors make it an absolute priority for us to work together to find the book and bring it to the Library? Or do you have some
other goal?
’

Bradamant brushed crumbs off her fingers. The toast lay on her plate, slowly cooling. ‘
Certainly my highest priority is to bring the book back,
’ she replied. ‘
But I
cannot see why Alberich should want to kill you. It isn’t as if you have the book.
’

‘
And you do?
’ Kai put in, his tone highly formal. But it wasn’t the formality of junior-to-senior: it was the formality of someone with authority in his own right, to a
peer in another discipline.

From the look on his face, he realized that a second too late.

Bradamant didn’t seem to mind. She graced him with a delicate smile, and Irene wondered if anyone who didn’t know her would have recognized the calculation in her eyes. ‘
If
I did,
’ she said, ‘
I wouldn’t be here now.
’

‘
I think we would profit from a council of war,
’ Irene said. ‘
Or we will all assuredly hang separately.
’

Bradamant thought about it, dusting her fingers again and again until not even the smallest crumb could have remained on them. Finally she said, ‘
I will agree to that much. For the
moment.
’

Irene nodded. She turned towards the door. ‘You can come in now, gentlemen,’ she called.
She
’d have been listening if it had been the other way round, after all.

Vale opened the door, and held it for Singh to enter. Both men looked a little irritated, Singh more than Vale – but then, Irene reminded herself, who knew what Bradamant had been telling
him last night? There were few things worse than thinking you knew everything about secret goings-on, and then finding out you’d been fed a nice plausible mess of lies.

Vale occupied his armchair again. Singh looked at Kai in a way which suggested that
he
usually got the comfortable chair Kai was sitting in, then pulled over the high-backed chair from by
the desk. He cleared off a stack of newspapers, and settled down with a snort, flipping out notebook and pen.

‘I have been discussing the situation with Inspector Singh here,’ Vale said. He steepled his fingers. ‘It has become quite clear that we are all in pursuit of the same thing.
Several members of the Iron Brotherhood were questioned last night – with Madame Bradamant’s cooperation – ’ he nodded to Bradamant – ‘which has established some
interesting facts.’

‘May I ask what you’ve found?’ Irene said, glancing at Kai, who looked impatient for news.

Inspector Singh regarded her with the same wary distrust that he was displaying towards Bradamant. What fun. ‘You may recall the explosion a couple of nights ago, under the Opera
House?’

‘I’m afraid I only know the very basic details about that,’ Irene said. ‘Was it related to the Iron Brotherhood?’

Inspector Singh nodded. ‘It was indeed, madam. They happened to meet there, and unfortunately the blast took out a number of their more senior members.’

‘Unfortunately?’ Kai said. ‘Surely, if these people are criminals . . .’

Inspector Singh shook his head. ‘Your reaction is understandable, sir, but you must understand that we have infiltrated some of these societies to a degree. We know who runs them, Mr
Strongrock, and we know who’s in charge. We have some idea of which way they’re going to jump in a crisis, even if we can’t bring any charges against them. For the moment,’
he added ominously. ‘The unfortunate result of this little affair was that a woman of whom we know little is now leading the society. The Grand Hammer, I believe they call her. And this woman
is, shall we say, an unknown quantity. I don’t like unknown quantities, Mr Strongrock. They don’t fill my notebook and they don’t go to prison as they should.’

Irene leaned forward. ‘Are you saying, Inspector, that this “unknown quantity” is linked to last night’s events at the Liechtenstein Embassy?’

‘You would be quite correct, Miss Winters,’ Inspector Singh said. He rearranged his lips in a thin distrustful smile. ‘Now from what Mr Vale here has told me, I’m
inclined to wonder if this woman is linked to the person you know as “Alberich”. Given that one of the aims of last night’s little exposition, alligators and all, was to search
Lord Silver’s rooms while he was otherwise occupied.’

‘For a book,’ Vale interjected.

‘Indeed,’ Inspector Singh agreed. ‘That’s what our questioning confirmed. For a very specific book. The same book that was stolen from Lord Wyndham recently by a certain
thief. Or should I say, believed to have been stolen?’ He shot a glance at Bradamant. His face was inexpressive enough, but his eyes were very dark and very angry.

Bradamant seemed to crumple in on herself. If she had had a handkerchief, no doubt she would have held it to her eyes and sniffled bravely. As it was, her lower lip quavered and her eyes were
wide and limpid. ‘If Irene has told you about the Library,’ she said, ‘then there’s nothing more that I can say. I admit that I took,’ Irene admired her careful
avoidance of the word stolen, ‘some books in order to make the Grimm’s disappearance look unimportant. But I certainly didn’t kill Lord Wyndham. Why would I have wanted to? I
didn’t even know the man.’

Irene raised her hand to get Vale and Singh’s attention. ‘Would you mind if I ask Bradamant a couple of questions, gentlemen? To fill in a part of the story on my side.’

‘Certainly, Miss Winters,’ Vale said. Singh gave her a brief nod.

Irene turned back to Bradamant. ‘I saw a card in Wyndham’s safe. It was embossed with a gold mask and signed with the name Belphegor. Was that you?’

Bradamant sighed. ‘Yes. It was. I had the plans of the house from a local contact—’

‘This Dominic Aubrey person?’ Vale cut in.

Bradamant glanced to Irene, with an
I see you’ve been giving away all our local secrets
look, then nodded. ‘He and Wyndham had been acquaintances for a while. I think Aubrey
may have actually been rather indiscreet in what he told Wyndham, but that’s a different problem.’
Just as you’ve been with Vale,
was the unspoken message. ‘Anyhow, I
came in by the roof while Wyndham was at his party downstairs. It was comparatively easy to deactivate the alarms on the display case where he kept the book – ’

‘Oh, was it now,’ Singh muttered.

– ‘and after I’d taken the book, I left the card in the case before leaving, by the roof again. I don’t know why it should have been in the safe.’ She shrugged.

‘What time was this?’ Singh asked.

‘About half past eleven,’ Bradamant answered. ‘The party was in full swing downstairs. I didn’t expect anyone to come up to Wyndham’s study at that
point.’

Singh nodded. He turned to Irene. ‘According to our forensic specialists, Lord Wyndham was slaughtered somewhere between midnight and one o’clock. It is difficult to tell with
vampires, but the fact that his head was found on the palings outside at one o’clock gives us some idea of the time frame.’

Irene wasn’t sure whether or not that was supposed to be a joke. ‘I see,’ she said neutrally. ‘So in that case, who put the card in the safe? Lord Wyndham
himself?’

‘It seems the most likely hypothesis,’ Vale agreed. ‘The man – I apologize, the vampire – was beheaded in his study, at his desk. Some of the other guests at the
party said that he went upstairs at midnight, saying that he was going to arrange a surprise.’

Kai nodded. ‘So when he walked in to find the book gone, he determined to preserve Belphegor’s card for future investigation. Though it seems overly careful to put it in the safe
rather than simply leave it in a drawer of his desk. But then he was attacked?’

‘That is so,’ Singh said. ‘By members of the Iron Brotherhood. I have information from some of our agents. We believe they must have been masquerading as guests. They simply
lopped his head off, walked out normally, and impaled it upon the palings as they left.’

Irene frowned. ‘But then Wyndham’s murder was before the Opera explosion and change in command in the Brotherhood. Is there a connection?’

Singh and Bradamant traded glances. ‘That is a very interesting question, Miss Winters,’ Singh said. ‘But at the moment, I am more interested in knowing the whereabouts of the
book which Madame Bradamant stole.’

Bradamant regarded him stonily. ‘It was a fake.’

For a moment everyone was talking, mostly along the lines of
What?
and
Are you certain?

‘And I know it was a fake,’ Bradamant said, cutting through the noise, ‘because when I took it back to my superior, he looked at it and then explained to me that he was not
interested in facsimiles. Especially those which were missing certain relevant parts.’

‘Which relevant parts?’ Irene demanded. She was fairly sure who the superior in question must have been. Bradamant answered directly to Kostchei, just as Irene answered directly to
Coppelia. The possibility of someone else having been involved, and giving Bradamant orders . . . well, it wasn’t impossible, but it was too unlikely. At the moment the principles of
Occam’s Razor, starting with the most obvious answer, seemed the best plan. ‘Did he tell you?’

‘No,’ Bradamant said bitterly. For a moment her face betrayed genuine emotion: anger, bitterness, and sheer thwarted curiosity. ‘I was given the strong impression that it was
better for me not to know.’

Irene worked out times and dates in her head. ‘Then, when you met myself and,’ she almost said
Kai
, but caught herself in time, ‘Mr Strongrock, on our way to our
assignment, this was after you’d discovered the book was a fake?’

‘It was,’ Bradamant agreed.
See how honest and forthcoming I’m being,
her vague smile said, her expression under control again. ‘I thought that if I could
intercept you on the way, then I could try to find the real book without your interference. Pardon my phrasing.’