Zamian gave his head a rueful sidewise shake.

"As you well know, sir, there is always scandal in the kitchen. One hears constantly a dozen or more stories. This one sweats too freely; that one breaks wind every time he bends over to peep into the oven. I pay no heed to such talk. Usually it is not true."

"But in this particular case, the reports are accurate?"

Zamian glanced up toward the ceiling.

"Sir, I barely remember."

Bodwyn Wook spoke to Scharde.

"Take Zamian to a very quiet dark room where he will be able to think without distraction. I want him to remember everything in complete detail."

Zamian raised his hand, his smile now somewhat tremulous.

"Why make such trouble for yourselves? Now that I gather my thoughts, I find that I remember quite well!"

"That is good news! The mind is a wonderful organ! What happened that evening?"

"Now I remember! I went out into the pantry a time or two, to stretch my legs. And then--but I can't be sure."

"Tell us anyway."

Zamian spoke with great earnestness.

"Truly, sir, it is wrong to make reports when one is not sure. An injustice might be done, and I would not want the weight upon my soul unless for at least a large sum of money."

Scharde told Bodwyn Wook: "He wants to know how much we'll pay."

Bodwyn Wook threw himself back into his chair.

"I think we should take Zamian to where he can think quietly in the dark until he is sure of his facts. He will be saved worry; we will be saved expense, and it will be best for all of us."

"Quite right, sir: sound thinking."

Bodwyn Wook added: "Before you leave him explain how accessories after the fact are punished, just as the criminal is punished."

Zamian spoke with dignity: "Such talk is not in good taste when people are eagerly trying to help. I would never withhold knowledge of crime. Still I think we agree that a little gift is always nice and shows good faith and happy feelings on all sides."

"If we were faithful and happy we would never catch criminals," said Bodwyn Wook.

"That is why we are cruel and merciless. Tell us what you know and be quick about it."

Zamian gave a forlorn shrug.

"As I mentioned, I stepped into the pantry to rest and think. While there, I thought I heard a voice cry

out. It stopped quickly. I listened and heard talking, and I thought:

"Ah, then, all is well." Then the voice cried again. This time it said:

"You're breaking my wings!"" "And then?"

"I went to the door and looked out. I saw no one. The truck from the winery had come in earlier with wine for the banquet; it was backed up to the dock with the curtain down.

I decided that someone was in the back of the truck. But of course such things are not my affair."

"Then what?"

"That is all. At midnight, after the unmasking, old Nion came for his truck, but it was unoccupied then."

"How do you know?"

"He put an empty cask into the back."

"And you cannot identify the persons who were in the truck?"

"I know nothing."

Scharde approached Zamian and spoke quietly, almost into his ear: "If, by chance, money were offered, would you remember more?"

Zamian spoke in anguish: "As always, I am the sport of a malicious fate! When my great chance finally arrived, instead of looking through the curtain and writing down names, I sat daydreaming in the pantry. I could have gathered gold by the handful; instead I have none."

"Yes, very sad," said Bodwyn Wook.

"Still, you overestimate the money you could have earned from us. As for blackmail, of course we. can only speculate." I Zamian departed. Bodwyn Wook and Scharde immediately located:

and studied the statement made by Nion co-Offaw, master vintner at the Joint Winery. Nion stated that he had brought three casks of wine down from the winery, unloaded them to the dock; then, arrayed in a makeshift clown costume, he had gone to the Quadrangle to dine with friends, watch the Phantasmagoria and enjoy a modest carouse until half an hour after the midnight unmasking, when he had returned to the winery in his truck. He had noticed nothing particularly unusual and had remained ignorant of the horrid circumstances until the next morning.

Bodwyn Wook threw the statement aside.

"Well, we have advanced? a trifle or two. The attacker apparently took the girl into the truck and| assaulted her there. What is your thinking on this?" ,| "Not much more. Apparently he knew of the route she would take| and planned to waylay her though those plans were probably made3 on short notice."

"That's the way it feels to me. So then, our attention turns to the truck."

"It certainly should be carefully examined."

"That is a good job for you."

The week after Parilia was somber and quiet. The wine buyers were gone, their purchases choking the holds of every departing ship. Tourists had also moved on, including the Clattuc houseguests: some home to far worlds, others to the wilderness lodges, still others by ferry across three hundred miles of ocean to Yipton: a destination as exotic as any. Here they would test the semi barbaric appointments of Arkady Inn, or explore the labyrinthine bazaars, or ride by gondola along the surprising canals, or look from a balcony across the Stewery. And others still might test the options available at the Pussycat Palace.

At Bureau B inquiries into the disappearance of Sessily Veder continued without cessation, taking precedence over all but the sea patrols along the Marmion littoral.

Surveillance of the Yip compound was delegated to special squads of the militia. Kirdy Wook was reassigned to Bureau B; Aries, however, was still required to trudge a nightly stint, to his intense dissatisfaction.

Glawen had become obsessed with the investigation, and could think of nothing else. Even his interest in food was lost and only Scharde's concerned insistence prompted him to eat.

Glawen had clung to the hope that Sessily might still be alive, that for some inscrutable reason she had changed from butterfly wings into a new costume; then, so disguised, had taken herself off to a secret place from which, sooner or later, she would either return or send news of herself--until Scharde reported Zamian's testimony.