"No?" Ah, see him hesitate, slowly ease back, uncertain.
"No, indeed." Very stern now. "We suspect that the fire was set as a diversion, by one of Shibari's creditors who had entered the house earlier and found what he wanted."
"Good gods." The master secretary plumped back into his seat, thinking that over.
"Yes. I suspect that said creditor either found Shibari and his family already dead or else . . ." Pause ominously. " . . . helped them prematurely into that state—and then searched the house at his leisure."
"W-what—" How breathlessly eager! "What do you think he found?"
"Considerably more than enough money and valuables to recover his loan." Now smile, grimly. "I suspect he discovered where Shibari's real treasure might be found—and determined to keep it all to himself." Now wait, watch for his reaction.
"Good gods!" the secretary spluttered. "You don't think I had anything to do with that, do you?"
Better than we'd hoped! But keep calm. "Certainly not. You weren't one of Shibari's creditors—were you?"
"Absolutely not." The secretary smiled with reassured confidence. "I could show you the official listing of Shibari's creditors, if you like."
"Hmm, yes, I would like a copy of the listing, if you please." Don't seem too grateful for it, not yet.
"Nothing would be easier." Yidar scribbled briefly on a waxed tablet, then rang a small bell. Almost instantly, a well-trained clerk came in. The master secretary shoved the tablet at him. "Go fetch this document and have it copied, quickly."
The clerk bowed and left. Yidar settled back into his chair. Studying his smile, Zeren would have bet his commission just then that this particular master secretary was skimming sizable sums somewhere out of the Ministry of Justice. Independent debt-recovering, perhaps? Or was it something to do with those missing prisoners he'd mentioned? Worth checking into later.
"Could you tell me, Captain," Yidar leaned forward again, "just how you intend to find . . . the miscreant?"
Now. Drop it now. "I myself was at Shibari's house last night, first making some sort of order out of the crowd of creditors demanding justice and afterward organizing the fire brigade. I had much opportunity, as you can guess, to see just who was present at the front gate when the fire broke out." A grim smile again. "I intend to go visit everyone on this little list of yours and see which ones I recognize on sight—and which one I don't."
"Er, don't?"
"My dear Master Secretary, it must be obvious that whoever was inside setting the fire could not have been outside at the front gate."
"Ah! Process of Elimination!" Yidar seemed terribly proud of using that term. Clearly he'd had some tutoring in proper logic and rhetoric, as befitting a gentleman. "Hmmm, and tell me, once you identify the miscreant, what then will you do with him?"
Oho, see him sniffing the bait! "Why, bind him over for trial, of course." Now shrug, look unconcerned. "I leave it to persons more skilled than myself in such matters to extract confessions."
"And to discover the whereabouts of Shibari's treasure?"
Bait taken! "Certainly. It's most important that the debts be settled."
"But you have no idea of the whereabouts, or nature, or total amount of the treasure?"
See the gears engage, as Sulun would put it. "None whatever." Shrug again. "But then, that's not my department. My business is to catch the thief—and possible murderer—and hand him over to the Emperor's justice. Let others do the clerical work; I'm a guardsman."
"Yes indeed." Yidar smirked. "And a most dedicated one, too."
See him thinking: what a fool, what a dumb clod of a soldier. May the gods help any of Shibari's creditors who fall into the hands of the Ministry of Justice for the next year or more. This lizard will borrow the Emperor's own torturer if he must, hunting for treasure.
Who would believe that Shibari's only surviving treasure is Sulun? Sulun and Omis, and their cleverness, and what they might yet create to save all of Sabis, and more.
The clerk knocked discreetly at the door, then tiptoed in and handed over a short document with its ink still wet. Yidar took it and studied it, frowning in concentration.
"Let me see the original, for accuracy," he snapped.
The clerk look offended, but handed over another, longer parchment.
The master secretary looked from one to the other, and smiled. "There, you see?" he said, displaying them both to Zeren. "All the names and addresses and amounts are there, as is the complaint. It lacks only the clerk's statement and seal."
Zeren was careful to take the copy without snatching at it. "Hmm, yes. I see I'll have a lot of walking and interviewing to do." Gods, yes, there were a lot of them. "Thank you greatly for your help, Master Secretary. I'll remember it."
"Your gratitude is my reward," Yidar almost purred. "You will keep me informed of the progress of your investigation, won't you?"
"I'll certainly let you know when I've caught the wretch," Zeren promised, easing out of his chair. "Now, seeing how many faces I have to go study, I'd best get on with it. Thank you once again for your invaluable help." He clasped arms formally with the master-secretary, (noting that his arms felt like lizard-skin, too) rolled up the document, and left as quickly as he could.
A single glimpse back from the corridor showed that Yidar was studying the document, memorizing the names of Shibari's creditors, already trying to guess which one of them knew the secret of the dead noble's missing wealth.
Zeren hurried down the corridor, out of the Hall of Records, into the clean city air.
CHAPTER SIX
Idleness was too much a burden for any of them. Vari vented her impatience by marshalling a cleaning-party to dust and scrub Zeren's house. The housekeeper beat a hasty retreat to the tiny kitchen garden. Omis got the duty of marshalling the small children, which was exhausting enough to keep him from undue worry. Arizun and Yanados went out to ply Arizun's old trade of fortune-telling; with a little luck, and the credulity of the average Sabisan citizen, they might charm up enough money to purchase a decent dinner. They would certainly pick up an earful of the latest news about Shibari's creditors and the hunt for the missing servants. Doshi took the opportunity to catch up on some sleep—until Omis, worn out with babysitting, woke him up and gave him the job instead. The children, finding out that Doshi was wonderfully teasable, enjoyed him immensely. Teigi, clinging fiercely to her new purpose and identity, practiced—with variable results—disguising herself as a boy. She insisted on being called Ziya now, and a single scuffle with Tamiri convinced the smaller child of two things: the point was not arguable and Ziya was not safe to tease.
Sulun inspected and reinspected the gear saved from Shibari's house, wandered about Zeren's spartan rooms for a time, then went to commiserate with Omis about being skilled craftsmen bereft of their tools.
"But you still have the working model of that steam engine, don't you?" Omis noted. "That's an advantage—a pretty enough toy to impress the superficial sort, useful enough to impress the practical. You can win a patron with that alone. What do I have?"
"Oh come, now, you or Vari must have grabbed some of your pretty knives and cookware, at least. The masters of the house will be impressed by the one, and his wife or housekeeper by the other. Don't worry." Sulun clapped him on the shoulder. "You're a good craftsman, and it shows plainly."