treat was involved up to her cute
little ears in the kidnapping of the Stormwarden’s son. If
not a part of the conspiracy itself, she did at least have guilty
knowledge.
I didn’t argue. I had formed that suspicion myself. It was
good to know I had a mind nearly as agile as his, if not so
absolute in its decisions. But him being a genius exempts him from
the doubts plaguing us mere mortals.
“Would you care to run through your reasoning?”
It would appear simple and obvious enough for even one of
your narrow intellectual focus to unravel.
I gave him a big
grin. That was his way of zinging me for having dared entertain
overnight in my own home. He couldn’t shake his good humor
completely, though. He added,
Troublesome as females are when
they step out of their proper roles as connivers, manipulators,
gossips, backstabbers, and bearers and nurturers of the young,
slaughtering them is not an acceptable form of chastisement. I urge
you to persist in your inquiries, Garrett. With all due caution. I
would not care to see you share the woman’s fate. How would I
attend the funeral?
“You’re just a sentimental fool, aren’t
you?”
Too often too much so for my own welfare.
“Ha! Dirty truth gets caught with its nose sticking out.
If I get scrubbed, you might have to get off your mental duff and
do some honest geniusing in order to keep a roof over your
head.”
I am an artist, Garrett. I do not—
“And I’m a frog prince under a witch’s
spell.”
“Mr. Garrett?”
I turned. Dean was at the door. “What?”
“That woman is here again.”
“The one who was here yesterday?”
“The same.” You would have thought he smelled
spoiled onions in his pantry the way his face was puckered.
“Take her into the office. Don’t let her touch you.
It might be communicable.” I let him get out of hearing
before adding, “You might carry it to your nieces and
suddenly have them all turn desirable.”
You ride him too hard, Garrett. He is a sensitive man with
an abiding concern for his loved ones.
“I let him get out of hearing, didn’t I?”
I would not want to lose him.
“Me neither. I’d have to go back to cleaning up
after you myself.” I got out then, ignoring him trying to
come up with the last word. We could kill a whole day that way.
Amber was looking her best and sensed that I saw and felt it. She
tried starting up where she left off. I told her, “I’ve
decided to find that money for you. I think we’re going to
have to stick to business and move damned fast if we want to catch
the trail before it’s cold. I did a lot of legwork yesterday,
poking under rocks. I came up with a sack full of air. I’m
starting to think the whole thing was an out-of-town
operation.”
“Garrett!” She wanted to play. But she could accept two
hundred thousand marks gold as a good reason for not, for the
moment. I figured her for the type who could get hooked on the
challenge. That might be my next problem.
“What do you mean, out-of-town operation?”
“Like I said yesterday, a thing involving two hundred
thousand and snatching Raver Styx’s kid is going to take big
planning and leave big tracks, even when the best pros are working
the job. One way to give the tracks a chance to disappear in the
mud is to do your design work, recruiting, purchasing, and
rehearsal somewhere far away. Then you might take the gold
somewhere else, still. In fact, with so much gold involved, you
might want to tie up loose ends by erasing any connection between
yourself and the kidnap victim.”
“You mean kill off the people who helped you?”
“Yes.”
“That’s horrible.
That’s . . . that’s
terrible.”
“It’s a terrible world. With a lot of terrible
people in it. Not to mention things like ogres and ghouls. Or
vampires and wolf men, who see the rest of us as prey, though they
used to be human themselves.”
“It’s horrible.”
“Of course. But it’s the kind of thing we may run
into. You still
little ears in the kidnapping of the Stormwarden’s son. If
not a part of the conspiracy itself, she did at least have guilty
knowledge.
I didn’t argue. I had formed that suspicion myself. It was
good to know I had a mind nearly as agile as his, if not so
absolute in its decisions. But him being a genius exempts him from
the doubts plaguing us mere mortals.
“Would you care to run through your reasoning?”
It would appear simple and obvious enough for even one of
your narrow intellectual focus to unravel.
I gave him a big
grin. That was his way of zinging me for having dared entertain
overnight in my own home. He couldn’t shake his good humor
completely, though. He added,
Troublesome as females are when
they step out of their proper roles as connivers, manipulators,
gossips, backstabbers, and bearers and nurturers of the young,
slaughtering them is not an acceptable form of chastisement. I urge
you to persist in your inquiries, Garrett. With all due caution. I
would not care to see you share the woman’s fate. How would I
attend the funeral?
“You’re just a sentimental fool, aren’t
you?”
Too often too much so for my own welfare.
“Ha! Dirty truth gets caught with its nose sticking out.
If I get scrubbed, you might have to get off your mental duff and
do some honest geniusing in order to keep a roof over your
head.”
I am an artist, Garrett. I do not—
“And I’m a frog prince under a witch’s
spell.”
“Mr. Garrett?”
I turned. Dean was at the door. “What?”
“That woman is here again.”
“The one who was here yesterday?”
“The same.” You would have thought he smelled
spoiled onions in his pantry the way his face was puckered.
“Take her into the office. Don’t let her touch you.
It might be communicable.” I let him get out of hearing
before adding, “You might carry it to your nieces and
suddenly have them all turn desirable.”
You ride him too hard, Garrett. He is a sensitive man with
an abiding concern for his loved ones.
“I let him get out of hearing, didn’t I?”
I would not want to lose him.
“Me neither. I’d have to go back to cleaning up
after you myself.” I got out then, ignoring him trying to
come up with the last word. We could kill a whole day that way.
Amber was looking her best and sensed that I saw and felt it. She
tried starting up where she left off. I told her, “I’ve
decided to find that money for you. I think we’re going to
have to stick to business and move damned fast if we want to catch
the trail before it’s cold. I did a lot of legwork yesterday,
poking under rocks. I came up with a sack full of air. I’m
starting to think the whole thing was an out-of-town
operation.”
“Garrett!” She wanted to play. But she could accept two
hundred thousand marks gold as a good reason for not, for the
moment. I figured her for the type who could get hooked on the
challenge. That might be my next problem.
“What do you mean, out-of-town operation?”
“Like I said yesterday, a thing involving two hundred
thousand and snatching Raver Styx’s kid is going to take big
planning and leave big tracks, even when the best pros are working
the job. One way to give the tracks a chance to disappear in the
mud is to do your design work, recruiting, purchasing, and
rehearsal somewhere far away. Then you might take the gold
somewhere else, still. In fact, with so much gold involved, you
might want to tie up loose ends by erasing any connection between
yourself and the kidnap victim.”
“You mean kill off the people who helped you?”
“Yes.”
“That’s horrible.
That’s . . . that’s
terrible.”
“It’s a terrible world. With a lot of terrible
people in it. Not to mention things like ogres and ghouls. Or
vampires and wolf men, who see the rest of us as prey, though they
used to be human themselves.”
“It’s horrible.”
“Of course. But it’s the kind of thing we may run
into. You still
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