Glen Cook - Bitter Gold Hearts

I glared into Donni's eyes. "You going to tell us who wanted the girl killed? Or are you just going to tell us it wasn't you?"

She had a very dry throat. I don't think anybody heard her but me. "It was the kid. He said—"

I don't bash women often. When I backhanded her I told myself it was because she wasn't one. Not in the lady sense. With her talent she might have sold the idea to somebody. But I'd been back and forth with it from the beginning, and if there was one thing I'd learned from it all, it was that the son wasn't guilty of that one. His big crime was stupidity compounded by gutlessness.

"Better come up with a more likely sacrifice, kid. Or you're it."

The trouble with Donni Pell was that she had no handles. She knew exactly where she stood and exactly what her chances were. She was the only person alive who really knew what had happened. I could guess, and spout, and maybe come close, but I couldn't get more than seventy-five percent.

The Stormwarden said, "Mr. Garrett, I'm willing to be patient in the extreme, but this approach isn't unmasking anything. With what you've already given me I've reached several conclusions. One: that my brother-in-law, Lord Gameleon, for reasons he considered adequate, had my son killed. In his instance my only interest is to determine the extent to which my husband had knowledge of that and was involved in the effort to financially weaken me by siphoning my sources of income."

She wasn't stupid. And just because she wasn't in the trade didn't mean she had to be blind. "All right. I would've gotten to that eventually. I was hoping friend Donni would nail it down when the flood started."

"There won't be a flood with her, Mr. Garrett. You know that. The woman has the soul of a ... a ..."

At a loss for words? I would have suggested "Stormwarden" to fill her metaphor, but she was already unhappy with me. It was no time to press my luck.

She said, "I'm also certain that my husband killed Courter Slauce. That much detecting I could manage myself. He was away from the house when it happened. He left on Slauce's heels, in a panic according to the men on the gate."

The Baronet tried to protest. Nobody listened. I asked,

"Why?"

"Slauce knew something. Karl was frightened enough to murder him to keep him from telling you. Courter would have been easy for him. Comparatively. Karl hated the man, and Slauce wouldn't have felt he was in any danger from such a coward. That leaves Amiranda."

Who DID kill Amiranda Crest? It was the question of the case. I'd begun to suspect we'd never get an answer. Only one person knew— maybe—and he or she wasn't talking.

"I have a suggestion, Mr. Garrett," the Stormwarden said in a tone that made it clear it was a command. "You take your friends, and the ogre, and Amber, and go back to TunFaire. I'll finish here. When you've settled your accounts, bring the ogre to my home."

From the corner of my eye I caught Morley making a little jabbing motion with his thumb. He thought it was time to go and he was probably right. I said, "You were going to work on our wounds."

"Yes." No sooner said than done. Crask and Sadler were awed. With Saucerhead's help they grabbed Skredli and dragged him out the front door. He hollered and carried on like he thought the Stormwarden was going to save him.

"Into the carriage," I told them.

Morley raised an eyebrow and jerked his head toward the house.

"Her problem. You, get down," I told the man who had driven down the the Stormwarden and Willa Dount. "Amber. Get up on the seat. No. Don't argue. Just do it. Shut him up, Saucerhead." The Stormwarden's man backed away from us, looking at me like he was looking death in the eye. He went around the side of the house instead of going inside. "Sadler, you drive. Crask, keep the ogre under control."

They gave me dark looks. I didn't care. I wanted words with Morley and Saucerhead as we walked up the slope.

"Roll."

They rolled. We trudged along behind. I looked back once. The Stormwarden's man was headed across the clearing. Evidently he understood what was going on and wanted to be far away.

Morley spoke first. "I don't like the way she took over all of a sudden, Garrett."

And Saucerhead, "You don't ever want to go to her place again."

"She'd hand me my head. I know." We walked until we reached the woods. I told Sadler to stop. "You guys understand what was happening down there? What the old bitch was thinking?"

Crask knew. "She's going to rub them. Then she's going to arrange something for us because she don't want nobody around who knows she did it to guys like her old man and Gameleon."

I looked up at Amber. She wanted to argue, but she shivered. After a moment, she said, "I think I saw the change come over her before you did, Garrett. What are you going to do?"

"If we took a vote, none of us would go for letting her do what she wants."

Morley said, "Kill them all and let the gods sort them out."

Saucerhead said, "It isn't like they're innocent. Except maybe the Dount woman."

"Amber. Where will Willa Dount stand?"

"I don't know. She's been into things like this with Mother before. Mother would trust her to keep her mouth shut. But Mother seemed a little crazy. She might include Willa with the others. She had to be guilty of something, even if she didn't kill anybody."

"Yeah. She was guilty of a lot. But not the killings. I don't think."

Friend Skredli flopped in the back of the carriage. A scream came from the farmhouse. "Gameleon," Morley said. "I figured she'd start with him."

"She'll stay with him for a long time. Amber. Do you see the position we're in?"

She didn't want to.

"Your mother plans to kill those people, then kill us so we can't accuse her," I reiterated. "Right?"

Weakly, "Yes. I think so."

"What options does that leave us?"

She shrugged.

I let her stew it awhile. "You think she thinks we're dumb enough not to see that?"

Nobody thought that. Skredli thumped around again. Nobody paid any attention.

"Does she think we'll go back to town and try to insure ourselves? Or does she figure we'll do something about it now?"

"How well does she know us?" Morley asked.

"I don't know. She told me she checked me out when she hired me."

"She expects us to move now, Garrett."

Saucerhead said, "She'll never be more vulnerable."

Amber snapped, "Wait a damned minute!"

"Sweetheart, you said yourself—"

"I know. But you can't—"

"You think we should let her hunt us down instead?"

"You could get out of TunFaire. You could—"

"So could she. But she won't. And neither will we. TunFaire is home. Crask. Sadler. What do you think?"

They huddled and muttered for half a minute. Crask elected himself spokesman. "You're right. We're in it with you for whatever you have to do. If it looks practical."

Gameleon had stopped yelling. He'd probably passed out. After a pause, the Baronet took up the song. I moved downhill a little, to where I could see the farmhouse. "I wish I knew more about her skills. Can she tell we're up here? Does she know exactly where we are?" I looked at Amber.

"Don't expect me to help you, Garrett. Even if she does plan murder."

I surveyed the others. They were waiting on me. "I have a suggestion. You take the carriage and go home. Or to my house, if you want. Then you won't be involved. You won't know anything."

"I'll know who came home."

"But that's all you'll know. Get along now. Saucerhead, drag the ogre out before she leaves. You can drive the damned thing, can't you, Amber?"

"I'm not completely helpless, Garrett."

"Scoot, then."

She scooted.

The Baronet had stopped yelling. Donni Pell was tuning up. I said, "We've got to assume she knows we're here. It makes no sense to bet the other way."