Burleigh said nothing for a moment, then muttered softly, "The Vaec do
not lie when asked to speak the truth. Then these things were found
in my room. But I did not put them there. And the pages from the
report--it's true that I borrowed some, but it wasn't _those_ pages,
and I put them back."
Auckland stood up. "This killer overlooked many things, and made many
stupid moves. One of the things overlooked was that the Vaec perfume is
quite penetrating. Ekem-ve, Hcent, who here is wearing Vaec perfume?"
The two Carolinians pointed at Shirley Mason. "Very faint," Ekem-ve
said. "Excellent Shirley dilutes much."
Shirley opened her mouth, a look of horror on her face, then buried her
face in her hands. "No," gasped James. He turned to Burleigh. "I--I
can't believe it. Then I was wrong about you. I--I told Auckland that I
was sure that Glamis was blackmailing someone, though I didn't know who
it was. I thought it was Amelia, really. But it must have been Shirley."
He shook his head. "He must have made life unbearable for you. But you
didn't have to be afraid. No one is executed for murder any more. The
treatment is painless. You had good reason for killing him, but...."
"He forced me to come on this expedition," she sobbed. "I can't tell
you the things he made me do. I wanted him to die. I hoped he'd get
stung some night when he took me out without his protective suit. But
nothing ever happened to him. Only ... I didn't kill him."
"Miss Mason," said Edholm, "it will be much easier if you confess
now. Examination under the detectors is very unpleasant. Not physical
torture, but worse. You will have to tell everything you know about
any question asked. You will try desperately to hold back things which
really are not relevant, but which hurt terribly to tell. If you
confess of your own free will, then you will be asked only if you have
told the truth, and nothing else will go on the public record."
"Just a moment," objected Burleigh. "I've just been on the hook myself,
and it looked pretty black against me. Now it looks black against her,
but maybe we haven't gotten to the truth yet."
"My fault," said Auckland, chiding himself for forgetting that the Vaec
were playing the 'simple native' roles again, and thus answering what
was literally asked rather than what was meant. He looked at James for
a moment, then said, "Doctor, I'm stumped."
"You've done good work, Roy," James said. "It was you who thought of
the right question to ask them. I'm sorry it had to be this answer."
"Oh, that isn't what has me baffled, Howard. I've been sure of the
truth for some time now. But the motive, the real motive, hasn't come
out yet. I've been unable to deduce it, you see, so I shall have to
ask you to tell us exactly why you killed Kenneth Glamis and your wife."
"Roy! You're out of your mind!"
"On the contrary. You missed something that Ekem-ve just said. He said
that Shirley was wearing the perfume and that she dilutes it. But the
perfume that was used to kill was undiluted, and the person who handled
it evinces traces of it in full strength. What I should have asked was:
Who here has traces of the perfume in full strength on his clothing,
such as the inside of a pocket?"
The fingers now pointed at Dr. Howard James. "Inside pocket of jacket
declares perfume," said Hcent.
"But I didn't put on my jacket until after we found Amelia," protested
James. "Anyone could have put a drop of perfume there."
"But no one could have tampered with your drink, Doctor," said
Auckland. He picked up the glass and held it out to Ekem-ve.
"Yes, excellent Roy," the Carolinian said.
"I've been watching you, you see, and I saw you pass your hand over the
glass a little while ago. Yes, there's a vitamin capsule dissolving in
it. A capsule which you no doubt opened and dosed with perfume."
James closed his eyes and murmured, "Amelia," softly.