Sign of the Unicorn

He squared the deck and replaced it in the case. He passed it to me.

«Nice unicorn, too,» he added. «I shouldn't have looked at them, should I?»

«That's all right.»

He sighed and leaned back in the chair, clasping his hands behind his head.

«I couldn't help it,» he said. «It is just that there is something very strange about you, Carl, beyond any hush-hush work you may be doing - and mysteries intrigue me. I've never been this close to a real puzzler before.»

«Because you just slipped yourself a cold deck of tarots?» I asked.

«No, that just adds atmosphere,» he said. «While what you have been doing all these years is admittedly none of my business, there is one recent incident I am unable to comprehend.»

«What is that?»

«After I brought you here and took Alice home last night, I went back to your place, hoping to get some sort of idea as to what had happened. The snow had let up by then, though it started in again later, and your track was still clearly visible, going around the house and down the front yard.» I nodded. «But there were no tracks going in - nothing to indicate your arrival. And for that matter, there were no other tracks departing - nothing to show the flight of your assailant.»

I chuckled.

«You think the wound was self-inflicted?»

«No, of course not. There wasn't even a weapon in sight. I followed the bloodstains back to the bedroom, to your bed. I had only my flashlight to see by, of course, but what I saw gave me an eerie feeling. It seemed as if you had just suddenly appeared there on the bed, bleeding, and then gotten up and made your way out.»

«Impossible, of course.»

«I wonder about the lack of tracks, though.»

«The wind must have blown snow over them.»

«And not the others?» He shook his head. «No, I don't think so. I just want to go on the record as interested in the answer to that one too, if you ever do want to tell me about things.»

«I will remember,» I said.

«Yes,» he said. «But I wonder… I've a peculiar feeling that I may never see you again. It is as if I were one of those minor characters in a melodrama who gets shuffled offstage without ever learning how things turn out.»

«I can appreciate the feeling,» I said. «My own role sometimes makes me want to strangle the author. But look at it this way: inside stories seldom live up to one's expectations. Usually they are grubby little things, reducing down to the basest of motives when all is known. Conjectures and illusions are often the better possessions.»

He smiled.

«You talk the same as always,» he said, «yet I have known occasions when you have been tempted to virtue. Several of them…»

«How did we get from the footprints to me?» I said. «I was about to tell you that I suddenly recalled having approached the house by exactly the same route as I left it. My departure obviously obliterated the signs of my arrival.»

«Not bad,» he said. «And your attacker followed the same route?»

«Must have.»

«Pretty good,» he acknowledged. «You know how to raise a reasonable doubt. But I still feel that the preponderance of evidence indicates the weird.»

«Weird? No. Peculiar, perhaps. A matter of interpretation.»

«Or semantics. Have you read the police report on your accident?»

«No. Have you?»

«Uh-huh. What if it was more than peculiar? Then will you grant me my word, as I used it: 'weird'?»

«Very well.»

«…And answer one question?»

«I don't know…»

«A simple yes-or-no question. That's all.»

«Okay, it's a deal. What did it say?»

«It said that they received report of the accident and a patrol car proceeded to the scene. There they encountered a strangely garbed man in the process of giving you first aid. He stated that he had pulled you from the wrecked car in the lake. This seemed believable in that he was also soaking wet. Average height, light build, red hair. He had on a green outfit that one of the officers said looked like something out of a Robin Hood movie. He refused to identify himself, to accompany them or to give a statement of any sort. When they insisted that he do so, he whistled and a white horse came trotting up. He leaped onto its back and rode off. He was not seen again.»

I laughed. It hurt, but I couldn't help it.

«I'll be damned!» I said. «Things are starting to make sense.»

Bill just stared at me for a moment. Then, «Really?» he said.

«Yes, I think so. It may well have been worth getting stabbed and coming back for what I learned today.»

«You put the two in peculiar order,» he said, massaging his chin.

«Yes, I do. But I am beginning to see some order where I had seen nothing before. This one may have been worth the price of admission, all unintended.»

«All because of a guy on a white horse?»

«Partly, partly… Bill, I am going to be leaving here soon.»

«You are not going anywhere for a while.»

«Just the same - those papers you mentioned… I think I had better get them signed today.»

«All right. I'll get them over this afternoon. But I don't want you doing anything foolish.»

«I grow more cautious by the moment,» I said, «believe me.»