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he finally managed.  Did she vomit on the way here? Has she had diarrhea? He thought he could smell
feces.  We have to start getting fluids into her, try to keep pace with the fluid loss.
Telmaine seemed oblivious to his voice as she cradled her daughter.
High, childish sonn pinged him. Amerdale, entering unnoticed, scrambled onto the bed with a glad,
 Flori! which changed swiftly to an,  Ugh! as she smelled her mother and her sister.  Papa, is Flori
sick?
 A little, I think, he said shakily.  But we ll make her well.
 Where s Fuzzbear? Do you still have Fuzzbear? She scrambled amongst the bedclothes until she
retrieved the stuffed toy he had carried with him throughout, and thrust it toward her sister.  Here s
Fuzzbear, Flori. Papa brought him all this way. He knew you d be back. I did too.
Flori s arm crept around the toy, and she smiled tentatively at her sister and father.  Mama, she said, in
a small, somewhat smothered voice.  Mama, I m hungry. . . .
Balthasar
Malachi Plantageter arrived late in the night, in response to Balthasar s urgent note. The superintendent
appeared weary, as well a man might who had the responsibility for public law and order on a night like
tonight. It was a mark of Bal s elevation by marriage that he merited a personal visit and not a deputy.
 Thank you for coming, Bal said.  Sit down, please. Can I ask for anything for you to eat or drink?
Plantageter lowered himself into a chair.  Thank you, but my wife would not forgive me; she has my
dinner kept for me, no matter how late I arrive home. Before we come to the substance of your note, I
heard that your daughter had been found, alive.
 Yes, Bal said, letting his natural joy sound in his voice.
 That must have been a great relief to you.
 It s a very great relief, not only for the sake of my daughter and wife, but because it frees me to . . . do
what is moral and right.
A brief silence.  I may need to talk to your wife, Plantageter said in a warning tone.  There were some
additional disturbing events tonight. His heart rate picked up.  She is resting next door at present, with
our daughters. I would much rather she not be disturbed.
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  I understand. I would prefer not to impose on her. The tone made that, unmistakably, a warning. Bal
wondered what Plantageter already knew more than himself, he feared. And for the first time, he
wondered if Telmaine were trying to do more than simply protect him from knowing what dreadful risks
she had taken.
Sweet Imogene, had she set that fire?
He said, too urgently,  I believe I know who killed Tercelle Amberley. I have only circumstantial
evidence, but I do know that he has killed at least one woman in similar circumstances.
Plantageter waited a moment. Bal could almost feel him deciding whether to pursue the first topic, or let
himself be distracted by the second. Then he said mildly,  Let me decide what is circumstantial and not
circumstantial.
Bal faltered. He had resolved upon doing this, fiercely resolved upon doing this, even before Plantageter
had begun asking questions around Telmaine. Even so, it was disconcertingly hard for him to find it in him
to betray Lysander. But if he hesitated too long, he thought desperately, Plantageter might start asking
again about Telmaine and the fire.
 I have a brother, Lysander Hearne, with whom I had not spoken for seventeen years. I was
considerably surprised when he called on me last night. He wanted information about the whereabouts of
the children Tercelle bore he claimed, in fact, to be their father. In exchange, he offered me my
daughter, missing these three days. He threatened her life if I did not comply with that and with his other
demands. Thanks to the courage of Gil di Maurier and my wife, Florilinde has been found. I am therefore
no longer bound to silence. I suspect him of the murder of Tercelle Amberley.
 And why do you suspect your brother? Plantageter asked, intent, but revealing nothing.
 Seventeen years ago he killed a young actress he had made his mistress. He did not intend to, but he
took her by the throat during a quarrel, and when he let go, she was no longer breathing. He paused,
then made himself go on.  He came to me and begged my help in concealing the murder. He invoked the
health of our parents, the reputation of our sister, my own prospects, and his horror of the end he would
meet if convicted of murder. I helped him take the body, in secret, out of the city. We left it off the road
for the sunrise while we took refuge in one of the wayfarers shelters. After sunset we came back to
confirm that it was gone.
 This was never reported, I presume.
 I can give you the girl s name and description and the day we left her outside the walls. You should find
her in your records as an unsolved disappearance.
 You do know that if there were charges, you would face them also, though your youth you were
what, fourteen? would be offered in mitigation.
 I was well aware, even then, that what I did was wrong, Bal said.  I will always regret for the sake
of the girl s family that it has taken me so long to admit to the doing.
There was a silence, broken at last by Malachi.  No body, no evidence, only a long absence and the
word of brother against brother. I doubt there would be charges merely on the basis of your confession.
Bal drew breath, sensing the shroud of respectability drawing in. Malachi confirmed it, saying,  Your
parents may be dead now, sir, but you have a wife and daughters. Consider them. He did not let Bal
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remonstrate; he continued,  How in particular does this relate to the death of Tercelle Amberley?
Bal struggled with his thwarted need for restitution. Plantageter let him, his face implacable. He was not
offering to spare Bal, that face said, but leaving him to his conscience.
 From the experience of living with my brother, I developed my professional interest in pathology of
mind. Lysander Hearne, I believe, was and is pathologically narcissistic and devoid of conscience.
Tercelle Amberley crossed him, perhaps by conceiving by him in the first place, but certainly by not
remaining where they, or he, had planned she would have his children, and then by putting the children in
my hands. I believe that it was Lysander Hearne, and not Baron Strumheller, who quarreled with Tercelle
Amberley about the whereabouts of the twins, and in the midst of that quarrel took her around her throat
and strangled her.
Malachi Plantageter said mildly,  Where did you learn the cause of death was strangulation?
There was nothing to do but admit it.  Baron Strumheller said so. I presumed since he found the
body he could tell.
There was a silence.  It is possible that you may be right. I have gained a certain facility in recognizing
the criminal mentality myself, and I thought I recognized a type when I questioned your brother about the
statement he had given impugning Baron Strumheller it being no light thing to charge a border baron
with murder. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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