The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump

When Kawaguchi did, the fellow said, "Legate, I have determined the point of origin of the fire." He waited again, this time just long enough to let Kawaguchi raise a questioning eyebrow. The blaze appears to have broken out below ground, in the scriptorium chamber."

I started. So did Brother Vahan. Even in the half-dark and in the midst of confusion, Kawaguchi noticed. Judy would have, too; I wasn't so sure about myself. The legate said, This has significance, gentlemen?"

The abbot and I looked at each other. He deferred to me with a graceful gesture that showed me his arm was bumed, too. I said, "I drew the information alerting me to a problem around the Devonshire dump from the scriptorium. Now, I gather, any further evidence that might have been there is gone."

"The actual parchments from which you made your conclusions, and from which you might have gone on to draw other inferences, are surely perished," Brother Vahan said heavily. "I confess I have given them little thought, being more concerned with trying to save such brethren as I could.

Too few, too few." I thought he was going to break down and weep, but he was made of stem stuff. He not only rallied but returned to the business at hand: "The data, as opposed to the physical residuum on which they resided, may yet be preserved. Much depends on whether Erasmus survived the conflagration."

"Erasmus?" Legate Kawaguchi and I asked together.

"The scriptorium spirit" Brother Vahan explained. He hadn't named the spirit for me when I was down there, but that had been strictly business.

Kawaguchi, Judy, and I turned as one to look at the smoking ruin which was all that remained of the Thomas Brothers monastery. Gentiy, Judy said, "How likely is that?"

"If the spirit betook itself wholly to the Other Side when the fire started, there may be some hope," the abbot said. "The monastery is - was - consecrated ground, after all, and thereby to some degree protected from the impact of the physical world upon the spiritual."

Kawaguchi looked thoughtful. That's so," he admitted.

"Let me talk to the firecrew. If they think it's safe, we'll send a sorce-and-rescue team down into the scriptorium and see if we can't save that spirit It may be able to give vital evidence."

"Without the corroborating physical presence of the parchments, evidence taken from a spirit is not admissible in court," Judy reminded him.

"Thank you for noting that. Mistress Ather. I was aware of it," the legate said. He didn't sound annoyed, though; my guess was, Judy had just proved to him she knew what she was talking about He went on, "My thought was not so much for your fiancee's investigation as for the facts relating to the tragic fire here. For that, the spirit's testimony may very well be allowed."

"You're right, of course," Judy said. One of the many remarkable things about her is mat when she has to concede a point (which isn't all that often), she concedes it completely and graciously. Most people go on fighting battles long after they're lost Kawaguchi went off to consult with the firecrew. I turned to Brother Vahan. I'm sorry, sir, more sorry than I could say.

I never imagined anyone could be mad enough to attack a monastery."

"Nor did I," he answered. "Do not blame yourself, my son. You uncovered a great evil at that dump; that I knew when you spoke to me of what you'd found. Now it has proved greater than either of us dreamt But that is no reason to draw back from it Rather, it is more reason to work to root it out"

I had nothing to say to that I just dipped my head, the way you do when you hear the truth. Rather to my relief, Kawaguchi came back just then. A couple of men in red dashed into the ruins. My eye followed them. Seeing my head twist, Kawaguchi nodded. They will make the effort, Inspector Fisher. They have, of course, no guarantee of success.

"Of course." I noted the understatement. After a moment, I went on with a question: "Did you call me up here just to take my information, or can I help you with what you're doing?"

"The former, I fear, unless you have resources concealed in your carpet which are not immediately obvious." Did the legate's eyes twinkle? I wasn't sure. If he had a sense of humor, it was drier than Angels City in the middle of one of our droughts.

"Well, then," I said, "do you mind my asking you for as much as you can give me of what you've found out here?

The more I learn about how this fire started and the magics that went into it, the better my chance of correlating those data with one or more of the consortia that use the Devonshire dump. That'll help me figure out whose spells are leaking, which ought to help you figure out who's to blame for this burning."

I've worked with constabularies before. Constables are always chary about telling anybody anything, even if the person who wants to know is on the same side they are.

Kawaguchi visibly wrestled with himself; under other circumstances, it would have been funny.