Sarai gathered from Teneria that this last was unusual, but just what it meant was not clear. Some witches could choose not to leave traces; warlocks often left no traces, but did not appear to have any voluntary control over it; some spells that wizards used could hide or erase traces. Which of those applied here, Teneria could not say.
The witch was off to her room in the palace now, to refresh herself a little, and Luralla had gone home, leaving Sarai and Tikri in the office. A spriggan had followed them back to the palace; Sarai shooed it away with a shove of her toe, and the little creature backed away, but did not leave the room.
"I hate this," she muttered to herself. "I should be tending my father, or listening to his cases for him. There must be a sixnight's backlog by now."
"Then why don't you go handle some of them?" Captain Tikri asked from behind her. She turned, startled. "I couldn't help hearing," he said, not very apologetically at all.
"That's all right," she said. "I should go-but I couldn't concentrate on it."
"You might want to try, though-a distraction might help clear your thoughts on this whole mess."
Sarai stared at Tikri for a moment, then nodded. "Maybe you're right," she said. "I should…"
"Excuse me," an unfamiliar voice said.
Startled, Sarai turned around and found a small man in a nondescript brown tunic and breeches standing in the doorway.
"Yes? "she asked.
"I'm Kelder of Tazmor," the man said, speaking with a curious accent. "I got your message."
Sarai paused to gather her wits somewhat before she asked, "What message?" The accent, she realized, was Sardironese.
"Ah… you are Lady Sarai, aren't you?" Kelder asked.
"Yes, I am," Sarai admitted. "But I still…"
"You sent messengers to Sardiron," the little man said, "asking for help in solving a series of murders-didn't you?"
"Oh, yes, that message," Sarai said. "Of course. And you…?"
"I'm a sorcerer," Kelder explained. "A forensic sorcerer. When I got your message I came south as quickly as I could."
"Oh, I see; and you've just arrived? Do you need a place to stay? I'm sure a room…"
"No, no," Kelder assured her. "I have a very comfortable room at an inn out by Grandgate; I arrived in the city several days ago."
"Oh. And you've been seeing the city?" Sarai asked. Kelder nodded. "You might say that, Lady Sarai. You see, I've been investigating these murders independently-I didn't want to allow myself to be influenced by any preconceived notions you might have. This is the sort of study where my specialty can really shine, Lady Sarai. I think that the use of forensic sorcery has been shamefully neglected in Ethshar, not just in this city, but throughout the entire Hegemony. To the best of my knowledge, you haven't consulted any sorcerers on this case:"
"Forensic sorcery?" She glanced at Tikri, who shrugged. "I didn't know there was such a thing."
"It's rather a neglected field," Kelder admitted.
"I did talk to sorcerers, you know," Sarai said. "None of them were able to help."
Kelder shrugged. "Ethsharitic sorcerers," he said scornfully. "Amateurs."
"And you're a professional?" Tikri demanded. "I like to think so," Kelder said, a trifle smugly. "I've been studying forensic sorcery ever since I was an apprentice. In general, Sardironese sorcery is considerably more advanced than anything you have here."
"The Northern taint," Tikri remarked. "Yes, exactly," Kelder agreed, ignoring the captain's insulting tone. "The Baronies of Sardiron, and especially my homeland of Tazmor, were part of the Northern Empire throughout the Great War. Thanks to the relics of the Empire, we have far more to work with than you Southerners."
"So you've come south to show us how it's done?" Tikri suggested sarcastically.
"No," Kelder said, still unoffended. "I was at Sardiron of the Waters when Lady Sarai's messengers arrived, looking for information about cults or conspiracies, maybe involving surviving Northerners, and I thought I might be able to help." Tikri glanced at Sarai. "You thought we might be dealing with Northerners? My lady, they've all been dead for two hundred years!"
Sarai shrugged. "We think they've all been dead for two hundred years," she said. "The World is a big place."
"Oh, I think they have," Kelder said. "So, sorcerer," Tikri said, "you know something about cults and conspiracies?"
"No," Kelder said, "but I know forensic sorcery. So I came here and studied the places where the killings occurred-I confess, it wasn't until I followed you and those other two women today that I was sure I had located them all. And of course, I was too late to study the bodies, unfortunately."
Sarai looked at him with renewed interest. The funny little man with the northern accent was full of surprises. "You followed us?" she asked. The sorcerer nodded.
"Do you think you learned something?" she asked. "Yes, my lady," he said.
"And what might that be?" Tikri asked. "Was sorcery involved in these crimes?"
"Not that I know of," Kelder said, "but that doesn't mean very much. Sorcery doesn't always leave traces. But I did learn that there were four people who had, prior to today, been in each room where a person was murdered."
"Four?" Sarai stared. "So it was a conspiracy…"
"Yes, four, my lady, two men and two women, but it was not necessarily a conspiracy. I could not determine the exact times that these people were there, only that they had been. And I have identified one of the four as the final victim, the witch Kelder of Quarter Street-I assume that he visited the rooms in the course of investigating the crimes. One or more of the others might have been legitimate visitors as well, perhaps even among the other investigators. Should all three prove to have been there for other reasons, then perhaps that will prove that there was more than one murderer. Have your investigations found anyone who visited all those places?"
Sarai blinked. "Well, I did, after the killings."
"Yes, of course," Kelder agreed, "I should have expected that. Then I assume one of the two women was yourself-might I test that hypothesis, please?"
"How?"
"With this talisman." He drew a flat silver object from inside his tunic and held it out. A circle of milky crystal was set into the center of a metal oblong roughly the size of Captain Tikri's hand. "If you would be so kind as to touch your fingertip to the white disk…"
Sarai glanced at Captain Tikri, who shrugged. Then she reached out and touched the crystal.
"Thank you. And do you perhaps…"
"I was in all of them," Tikri interrupted.
"Ah. Then could you…?" Kelder held out the talisman again.
Tikri glanced at Sarai.
"Do it," she said.
Tikri obeyed, tapping one forefinger lightly on the white crystal.
"Thank you, sir." Kelder pulled the talisman away and closed both his hands around it, holding it near his chest, not quite touching the fabric of his tunic. He stared down at it for a moment, stroking the metal with his thumbs, clearly concentrating hard.