he had come so far to learn.
Why had Keebles been killed? There were no overt signs of pillage. The desk drawers were closed, as was the cabinet. In a nook at the far end of the room, a door opened on a makeshift, porch and the yard beyond. The door was bolted from the inside; the murderer had not used it in his operation.
Glawen returned his attention to the desk. He searched in vain for a notebook or an address file or something similar which might identify Keebles' associate. Careful to leave no fingerprints, Glawen searched the desk drawers. He came upon nothing of interest. He looked into the cabinet, where he discovered a small safe, the doors of which swung open. The contents, again, were of no immediate interest.
Glawen stood thinking. Keebles had intended to make a telephone call. On the desk was the telephone screen and the keyboard. Using a pencil Glawen punched the 'Options' button, and then the code for ‘Listing of Recent Calls’.
The most recent call had been made to the Moonway Hotel, at Moonway. The others were local calls, made earlier in the day, and impossible to identify.
From the front of the premises came a soft sound: a rattling at the door which evidently had locked itself after Glawen had closed it.
Glawen peered cautiously down the passage. Against the lights of the street he saw a pair of constables who were trying to open the door in silence.
For a second Glawen stood transfixed. Then, on long swift strides he ran to the back door. He slid back the bolt, opened the door and stepped out upon the porch. He closed the door and stood listening, then he went to stand in the shadow of a shed. A moment later a pair of constables rushed around the structure, gave the yard a perfunctory scrutiny, then entered Keebles' office by the back door.
In an instant Glawen was over the back fence. By the light of a dozen moons he picked his way through rubbish and rubble, and pits fitted with puddles of foul-smelling water.
The waste area gave upon a small back alley, with small lumpy structures to either side. Thirty yards ahead a tavern spilled colored light into the street. From within came the mutter of guttural voices, a strange whining music, and occasionally the high-pitched whinny of drunken female laughter. Glawen walked briskly past and in due course, after several false turnings, came out on the lakeside avenue.
As he walked he pondered. The coming of the constables so hard upon his own arrival did not seem to be coincidence. They had been notified by someone who knew that Keebles was dead. Glawen worked out a sequence of events which he found reasonable, if a number of assumptions were accepted. Assume that the young man in the blue cape were the same handsome young man who betrayed Miss Flavia Shoup; assume that he had arrived at Tanjaree almost at the same time as Glawen. Assume that he had taken note of Glawen and perhaps recognized him. Assume that he had approached Keebles and had received the same response given to Glawen. With these assumptions in place, then the sequence of events became clear. Arriving at the Argonaut Art Import and Export Company, the man had compelled Keebles to yield his information, then had killed him if only to deny Glawen the same information. Upon leaving the office, the murder had observed Glawen in Crippet Alley and had thereupon notified the constables of the horrid crime and the murderer's presence upon the scene.
Even if the sequence were faulty in part, Glawen was impelled to travel to Moonway at best speed.
Glawen returned to the Novial Hotel. The clerk gave him a distant nod, but clearly was not in a cordial mood. Repairing to his room, Glawen found that someone had strung up a mesh hammock, to be used should the insects become troublesome.
Glawen changed his clothes and returned to the lobby. The clerk had judiciously absented himself until his guest had settled down for the night. Glawen went to the public telephone. The Halcyon Travel Agency in the Cansaspara Hotel was still open, so he discovered, and would remain so until thirty-two o'clock.
CHAPTER IX
The Halcyon Travel Bureau occupied a glass-enclosed office to the side of the Hotel Cansaspara lobby. A placard read:
Halcyon Travel Bureau
Travel services of every description.
TOURS, EXCURSIONS, EXPEDITIONS
ONCE IN A LIFETIME CHANCE!
TRANSPORT GUIDES INFORMATION
Glawen entered the office. At the desk sat a tall dark-haired woman, handsome, trim of figure and clearly of off-world origin. A plaque on her desk read:
T. DYTZEN
Agent on duty.
She spoke: “Sir? Can I be of help?'
“I hope so,' said Glawen. He seated himself in the chair beside the desk. “What is the best connection to Moonway? I want to get there in a hurry — now if not sooner”.
T. Dytzen smiled. “Have you been long on Nion?'
“I arrived just today.”
T. Dytzen nodded. “Before the week is out, you will stop using words like 'hurry' and 'soon' and 'immediately’. Well, let us see what can be done.' T. Dytzen worked her information screen, “There are a number of carriers, but none are large-scale or well organized. Semi-Express is the only line keeping to a schedule, but you have just missed the evening flight; it left at twenty-nine twenty. It puts down at Port Frank Medich, and arrives at Moonway about twelve o'clock; that is to say, local dusk at Moonway. I mention this just to give you an idea of flight- time.”
“I see. What else is available?'
T. Dytzen consulted the screen. “At thirty-two forty the regular Blue Arrow service leaves Tanjaree, but it makes six local stops and arrives at Moonway tomorrow at twenty-six o'clock.'
“What else do you have?”
T. Dytzen proposed several other services which sooner or later put into Moonway. “These are for the most part air-vans, not too fast, with a passenger capacity of thirty or forty. They are cheap to operate and make a tolerable profit for the owners, but essentially there is not enough traffic to support fast service to these outlying camps and villages. So you use what is available and call it 'adventure’. The tourists complain very little.”
“Can I hire a flitter? One way or another, I must get out to Moonway and fast.'
T. Dytzen gave her head a dubious shake. “I don’t quite know what to tell you. There is little choice between Murk’s Deluxe and Sky-waft. I cannot recommend either. Murk’s vehicles — I have heard them called 'contraptions' — are not dependable and those at Sky-waft are no better; in fact they may be worse. Neither will rent a vehicle without a pilot, to make sure the tourist does not decide to fly over Tangting Forest. Still, if you like, I will call Murk's to find what they have on hand.”
“Please do.'
T. Dytzen touched telephone buttons, which presently induced a surly response. “What do you want, then? I was sound asleep.”
“Strange,” said T. Dytzen. “Your advertisement says: “Expert service, night and day; we never sleep!”
“That only happens when we have vehicles to rent.”
“And now you have none?”
“I have two, but they are in service.”
“The advertisement states that Murk’s Deluxe maintains a fleet of a dozen vehicles of several types.”
