Stark's words had the effect of an electric shock on the listeners.
Delgaun's black brows went up, and the woman came forward a little to
stare at the Earthman with profound interest.
Kynon asked a question, of nobody in particular. "Who," he demanded,
"is this great black ape?"
Delgaun told him.
"Ah, yes," said Kynon. "Eric John Stark, the wild man from Mercury." He
scowled threateningly. "Very well--explain how I lied in the square!"
"Certainly. First of all, the Earth boy was a prisoner. He was told
what he had to do to save his neck, and then was carefully coached in
his part. Secondly, the crystal rod and the crowns are a fake. You
used a simple Purcell unit in the rod to produce an electronic brush
discharge. That made the blue light. Thirdly, you gave the old man
poison, probably by means of a sharp point on the crown. I saw him
wince when you put it on him."
Stark paused. "The old man died. The boy went through his sham. And
that was that."
Again there was a flat silence. Luhar crouched over the table, his face
avid with hope. The woman's eyes dwelt on Stark and did not turn away.
Then, suddenly, Kynon laughed. He roared with it until the tears ran.
"It was a good show, though," he said at last. "Damned good. You'll
have to admit that. The crowd swallowed it, horns, hoofs and hide."
He got up and came round to Stark, clapping him on the shoulder, a blow
that would have laid a lesser man flat.
"I like you, wild man. Nobody else here had the guts to speak out, but
I'll give you odds they were all thinking the same thing."
Stark said, "Just where were you, Kynon, during those years you were
supposed to be suffering alone in the desert?"
"Curious, aren't you? Well, I'll let you in on a secret." Kynon lapsed
abruptly into perfectly good colloquial English. "I was on Terra,
learning about things like the Purcell electronic discharge."
Reaching over, he poured wine for Stark and held it out to him. "Now
you know. Now we all know. So let's wash the dust out of our throats
and get down to business."