"Last evening, your lordship," the secretary said promptly. "My lord
was always particular about that. The suite was always to be swept and
cleaned during the dinner hour."
"Then this must have rolled under the bed at some time after dinner.
Do you recognize it? The design is distinctive."
The Privy Secretary looked carefully at the button in the palm of
Lord Darcy's hand without touching it. "I ... I hesitate to say," he
said at last. "It looks like ... but I'm not sure--"
"Come, come, Chevalier! Where do you think you _might_ have seen it?
Or one like it." There was a sharpness in the tone of his voice.
"I'm not trying to conceal anything, your lordship," Sir Pierre said
with equal sharpness. "I said I was not sure. I still am not, but it
can be checked easily enough. If your lordship will permit me--" He
turned and spoke to Dr. Pateley, who was still kneeling by the body.
"May I have my lord the Count's keys, doctor?"
Pateley glanced up at Lord Darcy, who nodded silently. The physician
detached the keys from the belt and handed them to Sir Pierre.
The Privy Secretary looked at them for a moment, then selected a small
gold key. "This is it," he said, separating it from the others on the
ring. "Come with me, your lordship."
* * * * *
Darcy followed him across the room to a broad wall covered with a
great tapestry that must have dated back to the sixteenth century. Sir
Pierre reached behind it and pulled a cord. The entire tapestry slid
aside like a panel, and Lord Darcy saw that it was supported on a
track some ten feet from the floor. Behind it was what looked at first
like ordinary oak paneling, but Sir Pierre fitted the small key into
an inconspicuous hole and turned. Or, rather, tried to turn.
"That's odd," said Sir Pierre. "It's not locked!"
He took the key out and pressed on the panel, shoving sideways with
his hand to move it aside. It slid open to reveal a closet.
The closet was filled with women's clothing of all kinds, and styles.
Lord Darcy whistled soundlessly.
"Try that blue robe, your lordship," the Privy Secretary said. "The
one with the--Yes, that's the one."
Lord Darcy took it off its hanger. The same buttons. They matched. And
there was one missing from the front! Torn off! "Master Sean!" he
called without turning.
Master Sean came with a rolling walk. He was holding an oddly-shaped
bronze thing in his hand that Sir Pierre didn't quite recognize. The
sorcerer was muttering. "Evil, that there is! Faith, and the
vibrations are all over the place. Yes, my lord?"
"Check this dress and the button when you get round to it. I want to
know when the two parted company."
"Yes, my lord." He draped the robe over one arm and dropped the button
into a pouch at his belt. "I can tell you one thing, my lord. You talk
about an evil miasma, this room has got it!" He held up the object in
his hand. "There's an underlying background--something that has been
here for years, just seeping in. But on top of that, there's a hellish
big blast of it superimposed. Fresh it is, and very strong."
"I shouldn't be surprised, considering there was murder done here
last night--or very early this morning," said Lord Darcy.
"Hm-m-m, yes. Yes, my lord, the death is there--but there's something
else. Something I can't place."
"You can tell that just by holding that bronze cross in your hand?"
Sir Pierre asked interestedly.
Master Sean gave him a friendly scowl. "'Tisn't quite a cross, sir.
This is what is known as a _crux ansata_. The ancient Egyptians called
it an _ankh_. Notice the loop at the top instead of the straight piece
your true cross has. Now, your true cross--if it were properly
energized, blessed, d'ye see--your true cross would tend to dissipate
the evil. The _ankh_ merely vibrates to evil because of the closed
loop at the top, which makes a return circuit. And it's not energized
by blessing, but by another ... um ... spell."
"Master Sean, we have a murder to investigate," said Lord Darcy.
The sorcerer caught the tone of his voice and nodded quickly. "Yes, my
lord." And he walked rollingly away.
"Now where's that secret stairway you mentioned, Sir Pierre?" Lord
Darcy asked.
"This way, your lordship."
He led Lord Dacy to a wall at right angles to the outer wall and slid
back another tapestry.
"Good Heavens," Darcy muttered, "does he have something concealed
behind every arras in the place?" But he didn't say it loud enough for
the Privy Secretary to hear.
* * * * *
This time, what greeted them was a solid-seeming stone wall. But Sir
Pierre pressed in on one small stone, and a section of the wall swung
back, exposing a stairway.
"Oh, yes," Darcy said. "I see what he did. This is the old spiral
stairway that goes round the inside of the Keep. There are two
doorways at the bottom. One opens into the courtyard, the other is a
postern gate through the curtain wall to the outside--but that was
closed up in the sixteenth century, so the only way out is into the
courtyard."
"Your lordship knows Castle D'Evreux, then?" Sir Pierre said. The
knight himself was nearly fifty, while Darcy was only in his thirties,
and Sir Pierre had no recollection of Darcy's having been in the
castle before.
"Only by the plans in the Royal Archives. But I have made it a point
to--" He stopped. "Dear me," he interrupted himself mildly, "what is
that?"
"That" was something that had been hidden by the arras until Sir
Pierre had slid it aside, and was still showing only a part of itself.
It lay on the floor a foot or so from the secret door.
Darcy knelt down and pulled the tapestry back from the object. "Well,
well. A .28 two-shot pocket gun. Gold-chased, beautifully engraved,
mother-of-pearl handle. A regular gem." He picked it up and examined
it closely. "One shot fired."