They both dressed and left the natatorium, which was adjacent to the gymnasium. The latter was a huge chamber with squash courts, dumbbells, Indian clubs, a duckpin bowling alley, and other strenuous opportunities.
Exiting the gym, they came out onto the landing of a great stairway that wound around a three-story-high court. They went down the stairs, talking and laughing. On reaching the second landing, they found a group of people standing there chatting, and one man turned and grinned amiably. Linda went to him, hugged him, and joined in the chatter. Melanie hung back and watched for a while, then went to the railing and looked out. Below was a fountain with a statue of a dragon spilling water from its mouth.
She left the rail and went down the hallway a short distance without finding anything of interest. On her way back she found light pouring through a wide doorway that she was sure had not been there before. There was no door, just an oblong taken out of the wall. How could she have missed it? Maybe the door had slid open.
She walked through and stepped out into a forest glade of huge oaks and beech. Birds twittered in the treetops. Little toadstools grew on a rotting stump to her right. Forest smells were strong. A brook ran through a ravine below.
She realized before long that this was an aspect, and a very pleasant one. The air was temperate, and bright sun played atop the leafy canopy overhead, sending shafts of light through to dapple the shade. She walked out farther from the aperture, then turned around to view it. The portal looked like a huge 3-D photograph standing upright. It was flat, like a screen, with nothing behind it. Yet within its depths the corridor was still there, in three lifelike dimensions.
She marveled at the sight, then turned away to stroll down a well-worn path.
She didn't get very far. Hearing Linda call her name, she turned back. When she reached the portal, Linda was standing on the other side, shouting down the hallway.
'Here I am.' Melanie took a few steps toward the portal.
Linda whirled and looked dismayed. 'Melanie, get out of there! That's a ?'
Then Linda disappeared, along with the corridor and the castle.
Without warning, the upright oblong had vanished, closing off the hole leading back to the world of Perilous, and leaving Melanie utterly alone with birdsong and the soft rustling of leaves in the wind.
Six
Formal Garden
The Earl of Belgard was indignant.
'You mean to say we're trapped here until His Majesty makes an appearance?'
Tyrene nodded and gave an apologetic shrug. 'I'm afraid those were his explicit instructions, my lord.'
The earl mumbled something which Tyrene tactfully ignored.
'Might I ask again, my lord ? when was the last time you saw the viscount?'
'If it was not when we were playing hedge, I do not know when it was. And I must tell you I highly resent this line of questioning.'
The earl was a tall man with a handlebar mustache, dressed in morning coat, striped trousers, and top hat. He carried a Malacca cane and wore a monocle.
'My lord, I have been charged by His Majesty himself with the task of investigating the murder of the viscount, and I am acting in his behalf. I beg your cooperation.'
All over the garden, lords and ladies sat idly by, waiting. They looked bored, nervous, and put out, all at the same time.
The earl took his monocle out. He rubbed it on the sleeve of his coat and re-fit it over his right eye. The lens was, Thaxton guessed, a double affectation. The earl probably didn't need spectacles at all. The monocle was extraordinarily good, though, for projecting pique.
The earl said, 'And I tell you I have nothing whatsoever of value to relate. My wife and I played hedge ball with the viscount, but as to the last time I saw him, I do not remember exactly where or when it was. I take little notice of trivialities.'
Tyrene bowed slightly. 'Thank you, my lord. My apologies.'
The earl huffed again and turned away.
'Well, nothing so far,' Tyrene said to Thaxton, who, along with Dalton, had been standing within earshot.
'You have a few people yet to interview,' Thaxton noted.
'Quite a few, and if they're all as helpful as the earl, I'll get nowhere and Lord Incarnadine will have me thrown in the oubliette for incompetence.'
'I doubt it. He realizes the problems involved. These upper-class types are a touchy lot.'
Tyrene looked glum. 'I was exaggerating about the oubliette, but I hope His Majesty will be understanding just the same. Nobody here seems to have seen anything.'
'Perhaps there was nothing to see. But what do we have so far?'
'Naught, I'm sorry to say,' Tyrene replied. 'According to Princess Dorcas, the viscount arrived at precisely one o' the clock, castle time. He talked with almost everybody, seeming in good spirits. He played hedge ball with Belgard, Lady Rowena, and Count Damik. He ate ? quite a bit, as he has a good appetite ? then, quite suddenly, he left the party and walked back into the castle.'
Dalton said, 'Then it's pretty clear he was murdered in the castle.'
'Which fact,' Thaxton offered, 'swells the suspect list to something near infinity.'
'Aye,' Tyrene agreed, with a pained expression. 'All too true.'
'And gives everyone here an ironclad alibi,' Thaxton pointed out.
'I don't know whether to feel relieved at that or to wish for some clue gainsaying it,' Tyrene said.
'A clue to the contrary would narrow things down a bit,' Thaxton said. 'But we don't have a murder weapon, or even a good suspect, yet.'
'Has there ever been a murder in the castle?' Dalton asked.
'Not within recent memory,' Tyrene told him. 'Gods be thanked, Perilous doesn't seem to attract the murdering sort. A few thieves now and then, but no cutthroats.'
'And since the viscount's jewels were left, we can rule out robbery as a motive,' Dalton said.
'Might you two have frightened the thief away?' Tyrene asked.
'Possibly,' Thaxton said. 'But we would have seen him leave the alcove. Otherwise he heard us coming very far off. In that case, any self-respecting thief would have grabbed those rings.'
'Quite right,' Tyrene agreed. 'Unless…'
'An aspect?'
'Yes, there is an intermittent aspect in that alcove. At least the castle registry lists one. The name eludes me at the moment, but the murderer could have escaped through there. If he knew the periodicity of the aspect.'
'Know what's on the other side?'
'Not offhand, but it can be checked. In any event, it might be beside the point. The murderer could have dragged the body into the alcove simply to hide it from view.'
'He didn't do a very good job,' Thaxton remarked. 'We were just passing by.'
'I happened to glance in,' Dalton said. 'Otherwise we'd be playing golf now.'
'But where was the viscount bound?' Tyrene wondered. 'He was walking in a direction opposite from the one he'd have been going in had he been on his way home.'
Thaxton looked over Tyrene's shoulder, and the captain turned, following his gaze, to find Princess Dorcas approaching.
'Your Royal Highness,' Tyrene said, bowing.
The princess was dressed in something like a sari, but even more colorful. She wore large gold earrings shaped like butterflies, several gold bracelets, and a heap of gold chain necklaces. A single diamond was somehow affixed to the middle of her forehead. She was a pretty woman, if somewhat overweight and, by consequence, somewhat matronly. Her hair was an almost-black and her eyes were large and very blue. The eyes had a
