take long.Please."
With apparent reluctance, Father Bright and my lady the Countess satdown in two chairs facing Lord Darcy. They paid little attention towhat Master Sean O Lochlainn was doing; their eyes were on Lord Darcy.
"Conducting an investigation of this sort is not an easy thing," hebegan carefully. "Most murder cases could be easily solved by yourChief Man-at-Arms. We find that well-trained county police, in by farthe majority of cases, can solve the mystery easily--and in most casesthere is very little mystery. But, by His Imperial Majesty's law, theChief Man-at-Arms must call in a Duke's Investigator if the crime isinsoluble or if it involves a member of the aristocracy. For thatreason, you were perfectly correct to call His Highness the Duke assoon as murder had been discovered." He leaned back in his chair. "Andit has been clear from the first that my lord the late Count wasmurdered."
Father Bright started to say something, but Lord Darcy cut him offbefore he could speak. "By 'murder', Reverend Father, I mean that hedid not die a natural death--by disease or heart trouble or accidentor what-have-you. I should, perhaps, use the word 'homicide'.
"Now the question we have been called upon to answer is simply this:Who was responsible for the homicide?"
The priest and the countess remained silent, looking at Lord Darcy asthough he were some sort of divinely inspired oracle.
"As you know ... pardon me, my lady, if I am blunt ... the late Countwas somewhat of a playboy. No. I will make that stronger. He was asatyr, a lecher; he was a man with a sexual obsession.
"For such a man, if he indulges in his passions--which the late Countmost certainly did--there is usually but one end. Unless he is a manwho has a winsome personality--which he did not--there will be someonewho will hate him enough to kill him. Such a man inevitably leavesbehind him a trail of wronged women and wronged men.
"One such person may kill him.
"One such person did.
"But we must find the person who did and determine the extent of hisor her guilt. That is my purpose.
"Now, as to the facts. We know that Edouard has a secret stairwaywhich led directly to his suite. Actually, the secret was poorly kept.There were many women--common and noble--who knew of the existence ofthat stairway and knew how to enter it. If Edouard left the lower doorunlocked, anyone could come up that stairway. He has another lock inthe door of his bedroom, so only someone who was invited could comein, even if she ... or he ... could get into the stairway. He wasprotected.
"Now here is what actually happened that night. I have evidence, bythe way, and I have the confessions of both Laird and Lady Duncan. Iwill explain how I got those confessions in a moment.
"_Primus_: Lady Duncan had an assignation with Count D'Evreux lastnight. She went up the stairway to his room. She was carrying with hera small pistol. She had had an affair with Edouard, and she had beenrebuffed. She was furious. But she went to his room.
"He was drunk when she arrived--in one of the nasty moods with whichboth of you are familiar. She pleaded with him to accept her again ashis mistress. He refused. According to Lady Duncan, he said: 'I don'twant you! You're not fit to be in the same room with _her_!'
"The emphasis is Lady Duncan's, not my own.
"Furious, she drew a gun--the little pistol which killed him."
The Countess gasped. "But Mary _couldn't_ have--"
"_Please!_" Lord Darcy slammed the palm of his hand on the arm of hischair with an explosive sound. "My lady, you _will_ listen to what Ihave to say!"
He was taking a devil of a chance, he knew. The Countess was hishostess and had every right to exercise her prerogatives. But LordDarcy was counting on the fact that she had been under CountD'Evreux's influence so long that it would take her a little time torealize that she no longer had to knuckle under to the will of a manwho shouted at her. He was right. She became silent.
Father Bright turned to her quickly and said: "Please, my daughter.Wait."
"Your pardon, my lady," Lord Darcy continued smoothly. "I was about toexplain to you why I know Lady Duncan could not have killed yourbrother. There is the matter of the dress. We are certain that thegown that was found in Edouard's closet was worn by the killer. _Andthat gown could not possibly have fit Lady Duncan!_ She's much too ...er ... hefty.
"She has told me her story, and, for reasons I will give you later, Ibelieve it. When she pointed the gun at your brother, she really hadno intention of killing him. She had no intention of pulling thetrigger. Your brother knew this. He lashed out and slapped the side ofher head. She dropped the pistol and fell, sobbing, to the floor. Hetook her roughly by the arm and 'escorted' her down the stairway. Hethrew her out.
"Lady Duncan, hysterical, ran to her husband.
"And then, when he had succeeded in calming her down a bit, sherealized the position she was in. She knew that Laird Duncan was aviolent, a warped man--very similar to Edouard, Count D'Evreux. Shedared not tell him the truth, but she had to tell him something. Soshe lied.
"She told him that Edouard had asked her up in order to tell hersomething of importance; that that 'something of importance' concernedLaird Duncan's safety; that the Count told her that he knew of LairdDuncan's dabbling in black magic; that he threatened to inform Churchauthorities on Laird Duncan unless she submitted to his desires; thatshe had struggled with him and ran away."
Lord Darcy spread his hands. "This was, of course, a tissue of lies.But Laird Duncan believed everything. So great was his ego that hecould not believe in her infidelity, although he has been paralyzedfor five years."
"How can you be certain that Lady Duncan told the truth?" FatherBright asked warily.
"Aside from the matter of the gown--which Count D'Evreux kept only forwomen of the common class, _not_ the aristocracy--we have thetestimony of the actions of Laird Duncan himself. We come then to--
"_Secondus_: Laird Duncan could not have committed the murderphysically. _How could a man who was confined to a wheelchair go upthat flight of stairs?_ I submit to you that it would have beenphysically impossible.
"The possibility that he has been pretending all these years, and thathe is actually capable of walking, was disproved three hours ago,when he actually injured himself by trying to throttle me. His legsare incapable of carrying him even one step--much less carrying him tothe top of that stairway."
Lord Darcy folded his hands complacently.
"There remains," said Father Bright, "the possibility that LairdDuncan killed Count D'Evreux by psychical, by magical means."
Lord Darcy nodded. "That is indeed possible, Reverend Sir, as we bothknow. But not in this instance. Master Sean assures me, and I amcertain that you will concur, that a man killed by sorcery, by blackmagic, dies of internal malfunction, not of a bullet through theheart.
"In effect, the Black Sorcerer induces his enemy to kill himself bypsychosomatic means. He dies by what is technically known as psychicinduction. Master Sean informs me that the commonest--andcrudest--method of doing this is by the so-called 'simalcruminduction' method. That is, by the making of an image--usually, butnot necessarily, of wax--and, using the Law of Similarity, inducingdeath. The Law of Contagion is also used, since the fingernails, hair,spittle, and so on, of the victim are usually incorporated into theimage. Am I correct, Father?"
The priest nodded. "Yes. And, contrary to the heresies of certainmaterialists, it is not at all necessary that the victim be informedof the operation--although, admittedly, it can, in certaincircumstances, aid the process."
"Exactly," said Lord Darcy. "But it is well known that materialobjects can be moved by a competent sorcerer--'black' or 'white'.Would you explain to my lady the Countess why her brother could nothave been killed in that manner?"
* * * * *
Father Bright touched his lips with the tip of his tongue and thenturned to the girl sitting next to him. "There is a lack of relevancy.In this case, the bullet must have been relevant either to the heartor to the gun. To have traveled with a velocity great enough t
openetrate, the relevancy to the heart must have been much greater thanthe relevancy to the gun. Yet the test, witnessed by myself, that wasperformed by Master Sean indicates that this was not so. The bulletreturned to the gun, not to your brother's heart. The evidence, mydear, is conclusive that the bullet was propelled by purely physicalmeans, and was propelled from the gun."
"Then what was it Laird Duncan did?" the Countess asked.
"_Tertius_:" said Lord Darcy. "Believing what his wife had told him,Laird Duncan flew into a rage. He determined to kill your brother. Heused an induction spell. But the spell backfired and almost killedhim.
"There are analogies on a material plane.
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