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[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] "Sir Stalker;" "Yes, Captain Hawk." "Whoever the killer is, he must have extensive knowledge of this house, to be able to move about it as Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html freely as he has. Gaunt told me earlier that you had been very insistent in your attempts to buy this house. Perhaps you could tell me why this house is so important to you." Stalker hesitated. "I can assure you my reasons have nothing to do with killing Blackstone and Bowman." "Please answer the question, sir Stalker." "This used to be my home," said Stalker quietly. "I was born here." Everyone gaped at him. Dorimant got his breath back first. "You mean you're actually a DeFerrier? I thought they were all dead!" "They are," said Stalker. "I'm the last, now. And I prefer to use the name I made for myself. I ran away from home when I was fourteen. My family had become; corrupt, and I couldn't stand it any longer. But this house is still my home, and I want it." Hawk thought furiously. He and Fisher had only lived in Haven a few years, but he'd heard of the DeFerriers. Everybody had. They were an arrogant and evil family, sexually perverse and heavily involved with black magics of the foulest kind. It took a long time to prove anything against them; they were after all an old, established family, with friends in high places. But then children began to disappear. The Guard finally forced their way into the DeFerrier house, and what they found there shocked even the hardest Guards; Three DeFerriers were hanged for murder, and two more were torn to pieces in the streets while trying to escape. The others had all died in prison, one way or another. And this was the family that had produced the legendary Adam Stalker, hero and avenger of evil; "Is that all?" asked Stalker. "I really don't have anything else I wish to say." "Yes," said Hawk, snapping alert again. "I think I'm finished now. I don't have any more questions." "You may not have," said Lord Hightower, "but I do." He looked about him. "There are two people here who haven't been questioned under the truthspell. Don't any of you find it suspicious that these murders only began after Hawk and Fisher entered this house?" "Oh, come on," said Fisher. "Wait just a minute," said Dorimant. "We all know William had enemies. What better way to get to him than by the very Guards who were supposed to be defending him? Who'd ever suspect them?" "That's ridiculous!" said Hawk. "Is it?" said Visage. "We've all had to answer under the truthspell. Why shouldn't you?" "Very well," said Fisher. "I didn't kill Blackstone and Bowman. Hawk, did you kill them?" "No," said Hawk. "I didn't." There was a long silence. "Well, that was a waste of a good truthspell," said Stalker. Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html "Right," said Dorimant. "We're no nearer finding the murderer than when we started." "It wasn't a complete waste," said Hawk. "At least now we know how Blackstone died." "And we know the murderer isn't one of us," said Visage. "There's no one else in this house," said Gaunt. "There can't be. One of us has to be the killer." "You heard the answers," said Hawk. "Everyone here denied being the murderer." Gaunt frowned unhappily. "Maybe you didn't word the questions correctly." "Grabbing at straws," growled Lord Hightower. "If the murderer isn't one of us, then he must be hiding somewhere in the house," said Dorimant. "It's the only explanation!" "There's no one else here!" snapped Fisher. "Hawk and I have been through every room, and there isn't a hiding place we haven't checked. There's no one here but us." "Exactly," said Gaunt. "My wards are up and secure. No one could have got in without my knowing about it, and they certainly couldn't have moved about the house without setting off a dozen security spells. There can't be anyone else here!" "All right then, maybe the truthspell was defective!" said Hawk. "That's the only other answer I can see!" "I am not in the habit of casting defective spells," said Gaunt coldly. "My truthspell was effective, while it lasted." Fisher looked at him quickly. "While it lasted? You mean it's over? I thought we had twenty-five minutes." Gaunt shrugged. "The more people involved, the greater the strain on the spell. It's over now." "Can you cast another?" asked Dorimant. "Certainly," said Gaunt. "But not for another twenty-four hours." "Great," said Hawk. "Just great." "All right," said Stalker. "What do we do now?" "There is one place we didn't check as thoroughly as the others," said Fisher suddenly. "The kitchen." Hawk shrugged. "You saw for yourself; there wasn't anywhere to hide." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |