"I am hoping always to intercept one unguarded sentence, or a phrase, or even a word which might unlock some startling mystery. I don't know this word or sentence, but I will recognize it when I hear it, and it is this word or sentence for which you must be on the alert."
"I will keep my ears open, sir."
"Good. In connection with Aries: exactly what took place the other night?"
Glawen looked up in surprise.
"Did not the Conservator discuss the matter with you?"
Bodwyn Wook darted a yellow stare across the desk, but Glawen had already perceived his transgression and had pulled his head down between his shoulders: enough, apparently, to amuse Bodwyn Wook, who gave a civil answer to the question.
"He provided a perfunctory account of what took place. Since his daughter was involved I did not press for details. What, then, are the full circum stances?"
"It started in a class at the lyceum," said Glawen.
"Aries heard Wayness say that sometimes she went out alone at night, to walk along the beach, or even swim. The idea interested Aries. That same night he donned a cloak and mask, and skulked along Beach Road to Riverview House. He came upon Wayness swimming in the lagoon and attacked her.
It seems to be something he likes to do. In any event, someone who wants to remain nameless followed him to Riverview House, and stopped him before he did anything worse than scare Wayness out of her wits."
"And how did this nameless person accomplish such a feat?"
"He hit Aries over the head with a club."
"Ha-ha! So Aries still wonders who interfered with his gallantry?"
"He probably suspects Milo, which suits me very well."
Bodwyn Wook nodded.
"Apparently and this is the opinion of the Conservator he did not go out intending to kill the girl. He disguised himself; he carried a bag to put over her head, and even a bag of knockout gas. These items saved his life, according to the Conservator."
"Perhaps so. But once she recognized him, I suspect that, after apologizing with great courtesy, he would have killed her. If you recall, Sessily Veder is dead."
"Not so fast! In this case Aries is demonstrably guilty. In the case of Sessily Veder, he is only a prime suspect."
"More so than ever, it seems to me."
"I would not argue with you there."
Glawen asked: "And what now with Aries? Is there an official Bureau position?"
"The case is closed," said Bodwyn Wook.
"He has been definitively punished, according to the Conservator, and anything more would be in the nature of double jeopardy."
"Can't we even expel him from Clattuc House?"
"On what charge? And who will bring it? And, most cogently, who will deal with Spanchetta?"
"In the meantime, he swaggers around as if nothing had happened," said Glawen in disgust.
"I can't bear to look at him."
"You must control your emotions. It is good training for you. When will the Bold Lions make their excursion to Yipton?"
"During the half-term holidays. But I'm not going."
Bodwyn Wook waved his finger.
"There you are wrong! That is the main reason you have become a Bold Lion." He reached into a drawer and withdrew a folded sheet of paper, which he opened out and placed on his desk.
"This is a chart of Yipton, in as much detail as we are able to achieve. Here is the dock, and here is the Arkady Inn. These blue marks are canals. They open into the ocean, as you will notice, at the passes between the rim islands. The pink-shaded area is the Caglioro, or the Pot. All these passages and canals have names, but each Yip, for whatever reason, tells us something different.
"Now then"-- Bodwyn Wook tapped another section of the chart" here is Pussycat Palace. Notice this gray area beside the dock. It's also just behind the hotel, which must be sheer chance. The Yips are evasive about this area, and we want to know what goes on here. As a Bold Lion you're expected to be undisciplined and erratic, and you'll have more latitude, than the ordinary visitors: possibly just enough for you to learn something. It won't be easy; in fact, it may well be dangerous, but it's a job which needs to be done. What about it?"
"I'll do my best."
"I expect no more. Naturally you will say nothing to anyone in regard to this mission, except your father, Scharde."
"Very well, sir."
The school term proceeded. Aries attended classes in surly silence and once again managed to jerk himself back from the brink of dismissal.
Wayness and Milo followed their own routines, indifferent to the presence of Aries. For a time Wayness was attended by whispers and coven glances, stimulated by Aries' wild explanations of his black eye, but the scandal collapsed of its own improbability.
Toward Glawen Wayness continued to use elusive tactics, or so it seemed. Try as he might, he could arrive at no explanation for her distant behavior. One day, when Milo had not come to school, Glawen walked Way ness home. For a space she held him at arm's length with flippant remarks and comments on schoolwork, but at last Glawen became impatient. Taking her hand, he swung her smartly round, so that she stood facing him. She cried out, half laughing: "Glawen! I had to jump and skip to keep from turning a somersault! Is that what you had in mind?"
"I want to know why you are acting so oddly."
