"I heard what I think to be a re-creation of his voice.
Analogues of his words, if you like. I suspect that when he spoke, his words were piped into a trans vocalizing machine, broken into digits, then re-formed into new sounds, with dials set to eliminate lilt, adjust the pacing, then alter timbre, pitch and overtones. In the end the voice had no more character than a video-cell reading a printed page. And still it made a connection in my head. I'm convinced that I've heard that voice before."
"Very well," said Bodwyn Wook.
"So much for the voice. Now, then: tell us what happened."
Scharde described his experiences.
"Somebody made a mistake and Zamian managed to transmit a few words of information.
He said, quite clearly: "When he came back I saw his fur.
But no head."" "Ha!" Bodwyn Wook struck the table with his hand.
"So we can't simply disregard Ysel Laverty's work, after all!"
"True. We can also deduce that the man was not Namour, whom Zamian naturally knew well and had no reason to protect, so far as I know. Zamian was dying and in shock. Nothing he said can be trusted completely. As for the phrase 'but no head'--I would guess that the murderer took off the head to his costume, if only to drive the truck more easily. There's room for speculation here, but personally, I don't feel it's worth the effort."
Bodwyn Wook looked around the table.
"Captain Rune Offaw,
what is your news? You are suspiciously serene, and I detect in you that rather tiresome suggestion of omniscience which over the years has vitiated the popularity of the Offaws."
"It is comparison with the Wooks which makes the Offaws seem so effortlessly able. Still, in the case at hand, I believe that I can at least provide an iota of progress, and at best nip up our criminal by the heels."
"That is cheerful stuff indeed! Well, then; what do the cameras tell us? Did Namour 'tread measure after measure of dreamy delight' with Dame Spanchetta as he claims, or did he pursue 'pleasures more ghastsome and dire'? In short: is he guilty of this one crime? Or, as is more likely, "half guilty of twenty others?"
"In this case, at least, Namour seems safely in the clear," said Rune Offaw.
"Without shame he treads the measures and twirls Spanchetta this way and that with reckless aplomb.
Not for the whole three hours, of course, but well past the critical time. Strike Namour from the list, fibers or no fibers. The same tiresome pattern applies across the board.
Everyone even remotely under suspicion is shown doing what he claims he was doing.
"Except in one case. Yesterday, a mixture of diligence and luck yielded a significant fact." (The "luck" was Glawen's insistence that Miranda report her findings to Rune Offaw.
"Let him take care of the news! He'll be a useful friend and you won't make enemies elsewhere.") "I found, as might be expected, that the movements of the Bold Lions during the critical time were much less structured and static than those of other folk. Still, I managed well enough, and accounted for all eight:
Aries Clattuc and Kirdy Wook marching patrol, and I have here a copy of their sign-in sheet, one signature and a couhtersignature each half hour, signifying a patrol out and back. The other six Bold Lions were not so easy to account for, but I had no real problem. So: eight Bold Lions; like Namour, off the list. At this point, when I was about ready to put the job aside, my attention was called to a furtive shape in the shadows behind the Arbor, just barely within the camera's field. I applied both zoom and enhancement and came up with this." Rune Offaw, working the controls of Bodwyn Wook's video equipment, brought an image to the wall screen.
"It is a Bold Lion and a great mystery, since all are accounted for! As the figure moves, it becomes recognizable as Aries Clattuc, purportedly on patrol at the Yip com pound. The time is right; Sessily is still on the pedestal. He could be our man."
"Ha-ha!" said Bodwyn Wook.
"The good dutiful Aries! Has he been approached, or questioned?"
"No. I thought that we should jointly consider how best to handle the matter. Sergeant Kirdy Wook, also on duty, would seem to have serious questions to answer, such as why he failed to report Aries' dereliction when the fact would obviously have bearing upon our investigation."
"Hm," said Bodwyn Wook.
"That question at least is easily asked-if perhaps not so easily answered. First, let me see that patrol record."
Rune Offaw passed over the sheet.
"You will notice that on the three nights previous the sign-ins were occasionally done by Aries: two or three each night, although Kirdy, being the superior officer, signed in most of the patrols.
On the night of the murder Kirdy signs them all."
Bodwyn Wook looked around the table.
"Well, gentlemen? Are there any comments?"
Ysel Laverty said: "There are still the fibers to be explained. The murderer wore fur; fibers were found in the truck. But the fibers from Aries' costume don't match the fibers in the truck. Hence, Aries cannot be proved guilty."
Bodwyn Wook said: "He might have had two costumes, old and new. Well, there's no help for it; we must ask Aries some questions, before the day is any older. I'll take care of Kirdy later."
"Now is as good a time as any," said Scharde.
"It's still early; Aries will be in his chambers. So will Spanchetta."
Rune Offaw said thoughtfully: "I have some urgent affairs, and there would seem no need for the four of us."
Ysel Laverty said quickly: "A mound of paper is swallowing my desk; I must take care of it this morning, or both desk and I may disappear forever."
"Hmmf," said Bodwyn Wook.
