inside. All conversation stopped as they looked in awe at the inside of the cottage.
The furniture wasn’t mucha simple but comfortable table, utilitarian chairs, a writing desk, and a bedbut all four walls, including the windows, were lined with row upon row of bottles of every shape, size, and color. Light from the windows shone through the bottles, creating a rainbow effect.
This has to be the most complete collection of bottled liquor anywhere in Lallor,” Gheevy breathed in wonder. “Maybe in all Halruaa!”
“Well, he was a trader in liquid refreshments,” Pryce said, “when he wasn’t plotting the theft of magical items, that is.”
“So the Mystra Superior told you you could have first pick?” Gheevy asked.
“He’s a convicted conspirator,” Pryce told the halfling as he walked slowly around the large single room, “and a murder victim. She said I should at least come out here and see if there was anything of interest for the castle in my capacity as Lallor’s new primary mage.”
Gheevy laughed in mirth and amazement. “Blade, Blade, Blade. How on Toril are you going to”
“I haven’t officially accepted the post yet,” he interrupted.
“But you must!” Gheevy contended. “You’ve come this far. What else would you do?”
“Hey, I’m Darlington Blade!” Pryce reminded him. “I’m supposed to be a great wandering hero, a legendary traveling adventurer, remember? Besides, I think I’d have more luck playing off my reputation to a new audience every night. I think the element of surprise is kind of lost here…”
“Nonsense!” Gheevy jovially argued. ‘You’re a part of Lallor history now… and what a history! To these people, a man who has had a private audience with Greila Sontoin can do no wrong.” Then his voice became serious. “And, remember, you have friends here, too. Where else, in all of Halruaa, can you say that is true?”
Pryce looked askance at the halfling, one eyebrow raised. “Well, if I’m going to even think about staying here,” he exclaimed, “I’ll need to know that my friends are smart enough to figure out a simple conundrum!”
“Blade, I tell you I can’t”
“Come, come. I’ll make it easy. What do you do when you divide by half?”
“Half of thirty is”
“No, no, no. Stop thinking that way.”
Gheevy Wotfirr grew silent, thinking. Finally he ventured, “Divide thirty by half? Half of thirty is fifteen.”
Pryce shook his head with a grin. “Not half of thirty. Just half!”
“Half?” Gheevy said in wonder. “Half is… half is”
‘Yes?”
“Half is… zero-point-five.” “There!”
“Thirty divided by zero-point-five is… sixty!” “Now add ten.”
“Seventy. The answer is seventy!”
“Excellent, my dear Wotfirr,” Pryce said proudly. “Elementary numerology.”
Gheevy laughed. “Amazing, Blade. How do you do it?”
Pryce waved a hand airily. “It’s a gift. Or a curse, depending upon your point of view. After a hard life and a tough job, I’ve learned that little things are almost always important. Things that don’t add up logically or psychologically pinch at my brain.”
“I’ll tell you one thing,” said the halfling, beginning to study Fullmer’s collection in earnest. “Your brain is certainly well connected to your mouth. On the skyship? I never saw such a thing. You were so convincing I almost believed you were Darlington Blade!” He laughed in honest appreciation. He only became serious while studying an extremely rare bottle of Jhynissian wine. “Where do you think Geerling Ambersong’s body actually is, anyway?”
Pryce’s words were quiet and flat. “What? You don’t believe me?”
“Come along now, ‘Blade,’” Gheevy stressed without interrupting his examination. “We both know who those bodies actually were”
Pryce’s next words succeeded in getting the halfling’s attention. “Well, actually, that’s not exactly true.”
Gheevy looked at his associate in surprise, then tried to smile. “What are you talking about? We both saw Darlington Blade’s corpse.”
Pryce was standing just inside the door, leaning his back against the wood. “You’re not listening again, Gheevy. You said we both knew who those two bodies were. To say that is not true is merely a statement of fact. only knew who one of those bodiesp› was. You told me who the other one was.”
“Is this… is this another conundrum?” the halfling asked weakly.
“In a way. Sante wrote, ‘Never trust what a person says, only what a person does.’ Remember? You told me that yourself. You didn’t attribute it to the source, but there you go.”
Gheevy stood straight, his shoulders back. “I have been nothing but loyal and straightforward with you!”
“Now, now, my friend, don’t get defensive. Sante also wrote, ‘Never trust what a person says about another, but always trust that what he says about himself may be just the opposite.’”
“I’m beginning to hate this Sante,” the halfling muttered darkly.
“No need, since it seems you have read him yourself. And since Geerling Ambersong had the only complete works that I’ve ever seen, I wonder how it came about that you know his writings.”
“Oh, for Sontoin’s sake!” Gheevy erupted in exasperation. “It’s only a phrase, Blade! I don’t know where I got it. It’s such a universal sentiment, I may have made it up. There! I made it up. Are you satisfied?”
“Well, if you want to know the truth… no.”
Gheevy stared at him for a few moments, then began to laugh. “Oh, I know what this is all about,” he said. ‘You’re feeling guilty about Dearlyn killing herself, aren’t you? So now you’re rooting around for some other explanationany other explanation. You’re seeing murderers everywhere, aren’t you? All right, then, it’s your turn to think. Because really, does it matter whose body it actually was? Gamor killed the real Darlington Blade, Dearlyn or Geerling killed him, then maybe Geerling killed himself, and Dearlyn killed Teddington. Maybe the jackals got Geerling; I don’t know. I don’t care! The haunt proves that Geerling is dead, so it’s over! Everyone got justice, everything is taken care of, so face it. It’s over. We’ve won. You’ve won! So just let it be, can’t you?”
Pryce wasn’t impressed. “F, Gheevy.” “What?”
‘Why? It’s the very first, and the very last, question. Why? You want to know the biggest why in this case?”
Gheevy sighed elaborately and rolled his eyes. “All right, Blade, if you must. What is this case’s biggest why?”
“I must,” Pryce Covington said quietly. “The biggest why is why would a hero as famous as Darlington Blade insist on remaining unseen?”
Gheevy reacted like a talentless entertainer caught in the eye of the Lallor Gate. ‘What did you say?”
“It was what was bothering me from the very outset,” Pryce explained. “Why would a valiant, celebrated adventurer hide himself from his admirers? Why would a mage as beloved as Geerling Ambersong teach such a heroic figure in secret… secret even from the knowledge of his cherished daughter?”
Gheevy’s mouth flopped like a fish in the sand. “Butbut you said”
“My explanation was feeble even to my ears. At last year’s Fall Festival, Geerling announced that Darlington Blade would appear this year to take his place as primary mage. I said that I, ‘Darlington Blade,’ appeared only to find my master’s murderer. Of those two sources, who would you believe?”
“Butbut we saw Darlington Blade’s body!”
No, you saw Darlington Blade’s body! I saw the body of a complete and utter stranger! A stranger who I thought had absolutely no reason to shield himself from the eyes of the residents of Lallor. So why? Why had no oneno one alive, that isseen Darlington Blade except you?”
Gheevy Wotfirr’s voice, when he finally replied, sounded different. It was no longer light or helpful or eager or friendly.
Gheevy Wotfirr’s voice was now flat and deep and dangerous. “Why don’t you tell me?”
Pryce Covington moved his face into a shaft of multicolored light. “Because you are Darlington Blade.”
Gheevy Wotfirr didn’t laugh. He didn’t try to defend himself. He didn’t even try to dissuade Pryce of his contention. Instead, he asked for an explanation. “How do you figure that?”
Pryce cleared his throat and leaned against the door. “It’s all about fashion, really,” he said diffidently. “You know what a fashion plate I am, Gheevy. I want everything to be just so. So it really bothered me that the one thing
