Gaunt and his guests stumbled to a halt as they took in the gleaming steel axe held at the ready in Hawk's hand.
'What is it?' said Gaunt. 'What's happened?'
'Katherine Blackstone is dead,' said Hawk. 'Murdered. I want all of you to come into the parlor slowly and in single file, keeping your hands where I can see them.'
'Who the hell do you think you're talking to;' began the Lady Elaine.
'Shut up and move,' said Hawk.
Lady Elaine took in his cold, determined face and did as she was told. The others followed her into the parlor, giving Hawk and his axe as wide a berth as possible. Hawk backed slowly away as they filed into the parlor. There was a horrified murmur as they saw Katherine's body.
'She can't have been killed,' said Hightower faintly. 'It's just not possible.'
'Is that right?' said Fisher. 'I suppose she committed suicide too?'
'But how could the killer have got down from the landing without anyone seeing him?' said Gaunt. 'No one passed us on the stairs, and there's no other way down. Katherine was perfectly all right when we went running out of the parlor to investigate Visage's screams.'
'Nevertheless,' said Hawk, 'she's still dead.'
'Maybe she did commit suicide,' said Stalker suddenly. 'Her husband and her lover had both been killed;'
'No,' said Dorimant flatly. 'Katherine wasn't like that. She was a fighter; always had been. Once she got over the shock of Edward's death, all she could think of was revenge. She'd already started working on how William could have been killed;' He broke off, and looked a little confused. He put a hand to his forehead and swayed slightly on his feet. 'Do you think I could sit down, Captain Hawk? I feel a little; upset.'
'All right,' said Hawk. 'Everybody find a chair and sit down, but keep your hands in plain sight. Sir Stalker, lay your sword down on the floor by your feet, and don't touch it again until I tell you to.'
Stalker studied him carefully a moment, and then nodded and followed Hawk's instructions. Fisher watched unblinkingly until Stalker was sitting in his chair with his sword at his feet, and only then lowered her sword. Stalker didn't even look in her direction. Soon everyone except Hawk and Fisher had found themselves a chair. The two Guards stood on either side of Katherine Blackstone.
'All right,' said Hawk. 'Let me see if I've got this straight. Lord and Lady Hightower were up on the landing with Visage. Stalker, Gaunt, Dorimant, and Katherine were all down here in the parlor. The Lady Elaine went into the bathroom. Lord Hightower went into his bedroom, and Visage was left alone on the landing. Shortly afterwards, she was attacked and killed. Fisher and I heard her screams just as we were leaving the kitchen. We ran up the stairs to find Visage already dead, and her attacker gone. Lord and Lady Hightower came out onto the landing to see what had happened, and those in the parlor came running out into the hall. While they were leaving the parlor, or shortly afterward, Katherine was stabbed to death.'
'We must have missed something,' said Fisher. 'Put like that, the two murders couldn't have happened. It just wasn't possible.'
'It has to be possible!' Hawk hefted his axe angrily. 'I don't believe this. Four people have been murdered, in a house full of witnesses, and nobody sees anything!'
He glared round at Gaunt and his guests, and then turned disgustedly away to look at Katherine. He frowned slightly. He'd thought at first that she might have been stabbed somewhere else and then brought back and dumped in her chair, but while the front of her dress was soaked with blood, there were no bloodstains to be seen anywhere else. So, the killer must have struck no more than a few seconds after the others had left the parlor; Hawk scowled. It was possible. Everyone had been so intent on what was happening on the landing that they wouldn't have noticed someone sneaking into the parlor. But how the hell had the killer got down from the landing to the hall? Hawk shook his head and leaned over Katherine to get a closer look at the dagger that had killed her. The hilt jutted obscenely from between her breasts. Hawk noted that the blow had been struck with professional skill; just under the sternum and straight into the heart. The hilt itself was a standard metal grip wrapped in leather, with nothing to distinguish it from a thousand others just like it. Hawk straightened up and turned reluctantly back to the sorcerer and his guests.
'Some of you must have seen something, even if you don't recognize it. Have any of you seen or heard anything out of the ordinary, no matter how silly or trivial it may sound?'
There was a long silence as they all looked at each other, and then Stalker stirred thoughtfully.
'It could be nothing,' he said slowly, 'but up on the landing I could have sworn I smelt something.'
'You smelt something?' said Hawk. 'What did it smell like?'
'I don't know. It was a musky, animal smell.'
Fisher nodded slowly. 'Visage said she smelt something earlier on, just after Bowman's death. She wasn't sure what it was.'
'I'm not sure either,' said Stalker. 'But it was definitely some kind of animal;'
'Like a wolf?' said Hawk suddenly.
Stalker looked at him, and nodded grimly. 'Yes; like a wolf.'
'This is ridiculous,' said Gaunt. 'There are no wolves in Haven. And anyway, how could a wolf have got into my house, past all my wards and defenses?'
'Quite simply,' said Hawk. 'You invited him in.'
'Oh, my God,' said Lady Elaine. 'A werewolf;'
'Yes,' said Hawk. 'A shapeshifter. It all makes sense now, if you think about it. What kind of murderer kills sometimes with a knife and sometimes like a wild animal? A man who is sometimes a wolf. A werewolf.'
'And there's a full moon tonight,' said Fisher.
'You've had some experience in tracking down werewolves, haven't you?' said Dorimant.
'Experience,' said Hightower bitterly. 'Oh, yes, Hawk knows all about werewolves, don't you, Captain? How many this time, Captain? How many more of us are going to die because of your incompetence?' His wife put a gentle hand on his arm, and he subsided reluctantly, still glaring at Hawk.
'I don't understand,' said Gaunt. 'Are you seriously suggesting that one of us is a werewolf?'
'Yes,' said Hawk flatly. 'It's the only answer that fits.'
They all looked at each other, as though expecting to see telltale fur and fangs and claws.
Dorimant looked at Gaunt. 'Can't your magic tell you which one of us is the werewolf?'
Gaunt stirred uncomfortably. 'Not really. There are such spells, but they're rather out of my field.'
'There are other means of detecting a werewolf,' said Hawk.
'Oh, of course,' said Gaunt quickly. 'Wolfsbane, for example. A lycanthrope should react very strongly to wolfsbane.'
'I was thinking more of silver,' said Hawk. 'Do you have any silver weapons in the house, sir sorcerer?'
'There's a silver dagger somewhere in my laboratory,' said Gaunt. 'At least, there used to be. I haven't used it in a long time.'
'All right,' said Hawk patiently. 'Go and look for it. No, wait a minute. I don't want anyone going off on their own. Fisher and I will come with you.'
'No,' said Lord Hightower flatly. 'I don't trust you, Hawk. You were involved with a werewolf before. How do we know you didn't get bitten and become infected with the werewolf curse?'
'That's crazy!' said Fisher angrily. 'Hawk's no werewolf!'
'Take it easy,' said Hawk quickly. 'Lord Hightower is right. Until we can prove otherwise, no one is above suspicion. Absolutely no one.'
Hightower stiffened slightly. 'Are you suggesting;'
'Why not?' said Hawk. 'Anyone can become a werewolf.'
'How dare you,' said Hightower softly, furiously. 'You of all people should remember what good cause I have to hate shapeshifters.'
For a moment, nobody said anything.
'Why don't you come with me, Rod,' said Gaunt quietly. 'I'm sure I'll feel a lot safer with an old soldier like you along to watch my back.'
'Of course,' said Hightower gruffly. 'You come along too, Elaine. You'll be safer with us.'
Lady Elaine nodded, and she and her husband followed Gaunt out of the parlor and into the hall. The door
