penetrating quality, belied by an ever-present smile, which, though still present, was now not quite so wide or all- embracing.
'Tyrene, any word from my brother?'
'No, madam. The messenger has not yet returned.'
'He must not mean for us to stay here forever.'
'I think not, madam, but I must await word.'
'Of course. The king's word is law.'
'I think it will not be long, madam. I sent word that, so far at least, there is no evidence to suggest that the murder was committed here in the garden.'
'Can you be sure?'
'My investigation will continue, of course, but as of now there is no prima facie reason to hold everyone here.'
'I'm sure my brother had his reasons for ordering that no one leave the garden.'
'As am I, madam. But I think he will rescind that order.'
The princess looked off toward the playing green. 'Of course, if the murder was committed here, the murderer might escape easily if he is let back into the castle.'
'If we had to track him through all 144,000 aspects, madam, I assure you, we would. He ?'
'Or she,' the princess interjected.
'Of course ? he or she would not escape.'
'But it would be a task, would it not? Tracking the culprit through Creation.'
'Aye, it would, madam. But we're up to it.'
'I'm sure you are, Captain Tyrene. Quite sure.'
Thaxton had detached himself from the conversation and wandered over to one of the huge oak tables that must have taken six servants apiece to haul out from the castle. He surveyed the food. It was quite an ostentatious spread, even for the castle, all colorful garnishes and frills. A towering blancmange executed in scrolls and involutes stood in the middle, a single gouge taken out of it. For main dishes there was everything imaginable, from honeyed partridge to prime ribs au jus to whole suckling pigs mouthing apples.
He looked around casually before helping himself to a stuffed mushroom. Chewing briskly, he sauntered away from the buffet toward a long dining table on which lay plates that held the cold, half-eaten remains of an interrupted meal.
He almost bumped into Lord Arl, who was crossing from the right, looking at the ground.
'Pardon, my lord,' Thaxton said.
Arl nodded and moved on. Thaxton watched him. A young man of about eighteen, dressed in a costume matching Arl's, came up to the lord and spoke. He looked like a younger version of Arl, without the beard, and when Arl put his arm around him, Thaxton assumed him to be the nobleman's son.
Thaxton took a few paces forward and stopped.
He saw something on the ground and bent over to look.
He swallowed the mushroom. 'Hello.'
There on the grass was a knife with plain wooden hilt and a narrow blade. A stiletto. The blade was encrusted with blood.
'Hello, hel-lo.' He straightened and looked toward Tyrene, who was still talking with Dorcas. He waved and caught Tyrene's eye. He and Dalton came walking over.
'What is it?'
Thaxton pointed.
Tyrene stooped and examined it. 'Ye gods and tiny pink salamanders.'
'It's a wonder no one saw it before,' Dalton said.
'And I wonder why,' Thaxton mused.
Tyrene fished out a kerchief and picked the thing up by the blade.
'I think we have our murder weapon,' Dalton said.
'Unless someone was paring their nails and slipped,' Thaxton suggested.
'That proves it,' Tyrene declared. 'The murder was done here.'
'No,' Thaxton objected. 'That only makes it likely that the murderer was here at some point to drop the weapon.'
'But why would he drop it here?'
'Could have been inadvertent. But I'm just playing demon's advocate, don't you know. I'd say there was a good chance the murder was done in the garden, however unlikely it seems.'
'It does seem unlikely,' Dalton said. 'If it was done anywhere here, it was a mighty stealthy job.'
'I'll grant you that, but I still stand by my statement.'
'What are you basing it on?'
'The murderer would hardly come back to the party with the murder weapon and drop it.'
'Nobody left the party,' Tyrene said, 'except Lord Arl, and that was later.'
'No one was observed to leave the party,' Thaxton corrected. 'But I don't think anyone did.'
'Well, this thing gets sent to Dr. Mirabilis straightaway. We'll know soon enough if it was the murder weapon.'
'I was wondering…' Thaxton said.
'Yes?'
'Just what have you got in the way of… well, modern police methods in the castle?'
'Do the terms nanotechnology or DNA pattern identification mean anything to you?'
'Good Lord! That modern?'
'Well, yes. Dr. Mirabilis keeps quite up-to-date.'
'He keeps in close contact with Earth developments?'
'Earth? Oh, I doubt it. Earth is hardly the most advanced aspect in the field of forensic medicine. Or anything else, for that matter.'
Chastised, Thaxton murmured, 'I see.'
'Not only can we positively identify the victim by the blood sample, but we can identify the murderer if he left any dead skin cells on the handle.'
Dalton and Thaxton exchanged bemused looks.
Thaxton decided not to ask about fingerprints.
'Tell me, why not use magic to identify the murderer?'
'Castle law,' Tyrene informed him. 'No magic is to be employed in the investigation of a major crime or introduced as evidence in a trial resulting from such an investigation.'
'Really. That seems most enlightened.'
'His Majesty is a most enlightened man.'
'Oh, yes,' Thaxton said. 'Yes.'
Tyrene summoned a Guardsman, gave him the knife wrapped in the kerchief, instructed him, and sent him off.
'Well, this is another hue of steed entirely,' Tyrene announced. 'I'll have to send word contradicting my last word. I shouldn't have spoken so soon. Damn their eyes.'
Dalton said, 'Whose?'
'My men. They were told to search this area thoroughly. And there it was, right under their drippy noses. There'll be many a black mark awarded, I'll warrant. And some promotions denied.'
'It was under all our noses,' Thaxton said. 'I swear I walked past that spot, and I didn't see it.'
'No one did,' Dalton added. He insinuated one saddle shoe into the grass. 'Grass is a little high. Maybe it got tramped down.'
'Likely so,' Tyrene said.
'Or it was dropped there just a short while ago.'
Thaxton frowned. 'Isn't that the chair where the viscount was sitting just before he left?'
Tyrene walked over to it. 'And Lady Rilma sat next to him, here. And you found the knife in this spot, directly behind the viscount's chair.'
