“I don’t know Your Ladyship. It might have been the cry of a ghost.'
“A ghost! Marya, did you hear it?'
'I heard something but I think it was one of the dogs.'
'Of course! There! This time I heard it too. It is Porter, suffering from his catarrh.”
Lenk bowed. “As you say, Your Ladyship.”
'And my keys?'
“We shall find them in the morning, when we can see.' Lenk bowed again and withdrew. The Countess grumbled at length, but at last went to bed. Tonight she was unusually testy and Wayness changed and rearranged her down pillows a dozen times before the Countess finally tired of the game and fell asleep.
Wayness went to her room. She removed her white apron and her white cap, and changed into soft-soled slippers. Into her pocket she tucked pencil, paper and an electric torch.
At midnight she left her room. The house was quiet. Wayness delayed a diffident moment or two, then summoning all her courage, descended the stairs, where she stopped to listen again.
Silence.
Wayness passed through the library to the doors leading into the study. She worked the key; the door slid ajar with a faint, creak. Wayness studied the lock, making sure that she could not accidently lock herself into the study. In this caser there could be no difficulty. Wayness entered the study, closed and locked the door. She brought out her torch and took stock of her surroundings. A large desk, equipped with a communications screen and a telephone, occupied the center of the room. Beyond the windows the rain still fell, though not so heavily as before, with frequent splashes of blue lightning fracturing the sky. To the side a stanchion supported a large terrestrial globe. Shelves along the walls displayed books, curios, oddments, weapons. Wayness examined the books. None seemed to be ledgers in which Count Raul might have kept his accounts. She turned her attention to the desk. The communicator, it had not been used for many years, and might well be inoperative.
Wayness seated herself and touched a switch. To her delight and heartfelt relief, the screen brightened to display Count Raul’s personal emblem: a black double-headed eagle standing upon a pale blue globe, limned with circles of latitude and longitude.
Wayness set about her task of discovering where Count Raul kept the information she sought. The task might have been easier if the Count had been as methodical as he was meticulously all-inclusive.
Half an hour passed. Wayness chased down a dozen blind alleys and dead ends, before chancing upon the file containing the information she sought.
Count Raul had not bought any material from Gohoon Galleries. Furthermore, his collection of Naturalist Society documents had included only the items Wayness had discovered at the Funusti Museum. Here Wayness was disappointed. She had hoped, with a hope so secret that she had not even admitted it to herself, that she might find Charter and Grant in the study, perhaps in a cubbyhole of this very desk.
Not so. Count Raul had derived his material from a dealer named Xantief in the old city Trieste.
It was at this moment that Wayness heard the slightest of noises: a grating sound, of iron scraping on iron. She glanced up in time to see the handle of the door to the terrace move, after it had been tested by someone standing outside.
Wayness pretended not to notice. She altered the name ‘Xantief' to 'Chuffe' and 'Trieste' to 'Croy,' and conducted a search to make sure that there was no other mention of the name. Meanwhile, she watched the window. A great spasm of blue lightning shattered the sky. Wayness saw the silhouette of a man standing by the window. His hands were raised; he seemed to be busy with a tool.
Wayness rose to her feet without haste and went to the door which led into the library. From outside came an instant thud as if something had been dropped, and another extremely faint sound. Wayness knew that the man had hastened along the terrace, entered the library, and now had stationed himself beside the study door, to intercept her once she stepped out. Or perhaps he would push her back into the study and lock the door behind the two of them, and then who knows what might happen?
Nothing nice, thought Wayness, the skin prickling at the nape of her neck.
She was trapped. She could open the doors out to the terrace but the man would almost certainly catch her as she emerged.
At the study door came an ominous grinding sound, faint and muffled, as the man busted himself at the lock. Wayness looked wildly around the room. On the shelves were weapons: scimitars, kris, yataghans, poniards, kopfnockers, long-irons, spardoons, quangs and stilettos. Unfortunately, all were clamped tightly to the wall. Wayness' eye fell on the telephone.
Wayness picked up the telephone. She ran to the desk and pressed ‘9’.
After a moment Lenk's voice sounded in the speaker. It was a sleepy cross voice, but to Wayness it sounded sweet indeed. “Mr. Lenkl!” she called breathlessly. “It's Marya! I'm on the stairs! I hear noises in the library! Come at once before the Countess wakes up!'
“Ah! Yes. Yes, yes! Keep her quiet, by all means! The library, you say?”
“I think it’s a prowler; bring your gun!'
Wayness went to the door and listened. Silence from the library, as the burglar, or whoever he might be, had become wary.
Wayness heard sounds from the library: Lenk's voice. “What is going on here?”
Wayness eased the door open. Lenk, carrying a gun, had gone to the outside door and stood looking out across the terrace. Wayness slipped out of the study and closed the door. When Lenk looked around she was standing by the door into the hall. “The danger is over,” said Lenk. “The intruder escaped, despite my best efforts. He left a drill. Most unusual.”
Wayness said: “Perhaps we should not tell the Countess. She would only worry, to no avail, and make life miserable for us all.”
“True,” said Lenk in a troubled voice. “It would do no good to tell her. She would never let up on the subject of her keys, and how I had brought on the burglary by neglecting her orders.'
“I will say nothing, then.'
“Good girl I wonder what the rascal wanted.'
“He won’t be back! Not after seeing you with your gun!”
But I hear Madame Lenk! You had best tell her what has happened while I am here to corroborate the tale.”
'No fear this time,” said Lenk with a sour grin. 'She heard you calling on the telephone. I don’t see how you managed it without rousing the Countess.”
“I spoke softly, if you remember. And she was snoring to outdistance the thunder. There was no problem.”
“Yes, of course. Perhaps I should have called Baro. I'm sure he could give a good account of himself.”
“Perhaps so. Still, the fewer who know, the better.”
In the morning all proceeded according to routine. As soon as possible, Wayness rescued the key ring, restored the proper key to its place, then went out on the lawn. Ten minutes later she returned triumphantly with the keys.
Countess Ottilie was only moderately pleased. “It is what you should have done last night, to save nine hours of anxiety' I slept not a wink.'
While Baro was occupied grooming the dogs Wayness departed Mirky Porod. She rode the omnibus into Tzem. From the telephone in The Iron Pig she called Mirky Porod. Lenk appeared on the screen and stared slack- jawed at Wayness' image. 'Marya? What are you up to?”
'Mr. Lenk, it is a complicated matter and I am sorry to leave you so abruptly, but I received an urgent message which I can't ignore. I have called to say goodbye. Please make my explanations to the Countess.”
'But she will be shattered! She has come to depend on you, just like all the rest of us!”
'I am sorry, Mr. Lenk, but now I see the omnibus and I must go.”
CHAPTER VII
