Fratano pointed to a square of yellow paper on the side table.
"The number is there. It is the official computer printout."
Scharde looked at the paper. "30? You saw this number?"
"Yes, naturally."
"And you were going to read it off at the House Supper?"
Fratano's loose-jowled face sagged even lower.
"As a matter of fact, I thought the number rather high."
Scharde gave a scornful laugh.
"High, you say? What, at a guess, should be Glawen'sSI
"Well, I would have guessed 24 or thereabouts. Still " Fratano pointed to the yellow paper.
"It is not my place to argue with the computer."
Scharde grinned: a crooked sinister grimace which for an instant showed the tips of his teeth.
"Fratano, I have just come up from Bureau A. The computer is functioning with its usual accuracy. But it must depend upon the information fed into it. Do you agree?"
"That is so; yes."
"This morning, as is my right, I examined the input to the computer the information upon which it had based its judgment and do you know, someone had altered the records? To such an effect that Glawen was declared illegitimate--a bastard."
Once more Fratano cleared his throat.
"If the truth be known, rumors have been circulating to this effect for some time."
"I have heard none of them."
"It is said that your marriage to Marya was illegal and void, with the result that all issue was illegitimate."
"How could my marriage be illegal? I can show you the marriage certificate at any time. Now if you like."
"The marriage was void because Marya was already married, and had neglected to certify a legal divorce. Naturally, I paid no heed to such meretricious chatter. Still, if unfortunately it were true--" "Spanchetta told you all this? She is the source of the so-called rumor?"
"The subject indeed came up in our conversation."
"And you accepted her statement, without so much as referring it to me?"
"The facts speak for themselves!" bleated Fratano.
"On her tourist entry she signs herself as "Madame' Marya Chiasalvo."
Scharde nodded.
"Bureau B can construct against you a clear case of either 'criminal conspiracy' or 'felonious default of duty."" Fratano's jowl quivered and his eyes became large and moist.
"My dear Scharde! You know me better than that!"
"Then why did you accept, without protest, such an outrageous printout from Spanchetta? I admit to a sense of sheer outrage! You know Spanchetta and her spite! You have let yourself become her tool! So you must bear the consequences!"
Fratano said miserably: "Spanchetta can be very convincing at times."
"Here are the facts, which you could have learned from me over the telephone. Marya's family subscribed to a popular religion of Alphecca Nine known as the Quadriplar Revelation.
Children enter the religion at the age of ten by dedicating themselves in a mock-marriage with their patron saint.
Marya's patron saint was Chiasalvo, the Jewel of Kind Being.
The marriage is a religious formality, which the patron saint renounces as part of the marriage ceremony. It is so certified on the marriage certificate, which you could have seen at any time the question arose. The marriage, despite Spanchetta's vicious assertions, is as legal as your own.
How she could dare introduce this distortion into the genealogical record is beyond my understanding."
"Bah!" muttered Fratano in a subdued voice.
"Spanchetta and her
intrigues will someday drive me crazy! Luckily, you were in time to catch out the mistake."
"Don't use the word 'mistake." There is malice at work here!"
"Ah well, Spanchetta is a sensitive woman. At one time she had reason to believe ... But no matter. This is a sorry mess. What shall we do?"
