The Nemuti Lynx turned out to be one of a set of nine small abstract sculptures that had been unearthed at an archaeological dig in the Ten Mesas region of the Nemuti colony world of Veerstu two hundred years ago. The set included three sculptures that were called Lynxes, three that had been dubbed Hawks, and three more with the name Vipers.
"They gave them Human animal names?" I asked, frowning at Bayta.
She pointed at the reader. "Keep reading."
The sculptures had originally been given Nemuti names, I discovered in the next paragraph, but fifteen years ago a scholar with way too much time on his hands had done some heavy-duty etymological studies and translated the names into what he decided were the most accurate and/or poetic equivalents in a dozen other languages, including English. Over the years the nine sculptures had ended up dispersed around the galaxy, four to various art museums and five to private collectors.
The next page was devoted to pictures of the sculptures, including a scale that showed them to range between twenty and forty centimeters long. All nine were made of some gleaming white stone, they were very definitely abstract, and to me they didn't look anything like lynxes, hawks, or vipers. The so-called Hawk was twenty centimeters from top to bottom and shaped something like a comma, with a rounded top flowing in a wide curve into a somewhat wider base. The Viper was larger, about forty centimeters long, and looked like a frozen tongue of fire, curving upward twice from its base to a slightly rounded point. The Lynx was about thirty centimeters long and mainly tubular, like a short piece of bamboo rising out of a wider base. To me it looked a lot more like a viper than the Viper itself did. All nine sculptures were covered with texturing, but whether it was abstract decoration, miniature bas-relief carvings, or simple erosion I couldn't tell.
There was also a map of the Ten Mesas area where they'd been found, plus a short bio of the Nemut who'd led the team that dug them up. I skimmed the latter without finding anything of interest and scrolled down to page three.
Page three was a police report.
I glanced at Bayta, noting the set of her jaw, and returned to my reading.
The nine sculptures weren't considered all that valuable, certainly not compared to the Mona Lisa or the Cincarian Stand. But that hadn't stopped collectors from trying to acquire a complete set of Lynx, Hawk, and Viper. Collectors being what they were, of course, none of them wanted to part with even their single sculpture, and over the years there had apparently been a lot of Go Fish-style jockeying back and forth among the various owners. The four relevant museums had been approached as well, but most of them were run by equally fanatic collectors, and it had appeared that the status quo would be maintained for a long time to come.
Only someone had apparently gotten tired of waiting and decided on a more direct approach. In the past twelve months all four of the museums had been burglarized and their Nemuti sculptures stolen. Just their Nemuti sculptures, as far as I could tell from the reports, which should have sent up red flags or at least yellow ones for anyone who had been paying attention.
Apparently, no one had. Skimming farther down the report, I discovered that four of the privately held sculptures had also been stolen, despite the heavy security their owners had built around their collections. In the most recent of the robberies, the owner had apparently surprised the intruders and been killed.
Eight of the sculptures had vanished. One was still at large.
The third Lynx.
"This," I said, looking up at Bayta again, "is starting to sound like an old dit rec drama."
"Only those are fiction," she reminded me soberly. "This is real."
"Dead bodies do have a way of emphasizing that." I conceded, skimming the dates and locations again and wishing the Spiders had included the full police reports instead of just a summary. Even so. though, there were some intriguing hints to be gleaned. "Did you notice where the last private-collector robbery took place?" I asked Bayta. "The one where the owner was murdered?"
She craned her neck toward the reader. "Somewhere on Bellis. wasn't it?"
"Very good," I said. "For extra credit, when did it happen?"
"Just over three weeks ago."
"Right," I said. "Which, if the number you gave me earlier was correct, was the same time all those first-class compartments on our dearly departed train suddenly got booked."
I saw her throat tighten. "By Bellidos traveling to a world of the Nemuti FarReach."
"And who left Bellis Station the same time someone with the last Lynx on his mind was due to arrive," I said. "Coincidence is coincidence, but this is starting to push the envelope."
I picked up my own reader and handed it to her. "Or we could push it even farther."
I watched her eyes flick back and forth again as she started to read. They faltered, then started again, moving more slowly.
It was a short message, which meant she must have read it through at least twice before she finally looked back at me. "This can't really be from Korak Fayr," she insisted. "Can it?"
I shrugged. "The last reports of coral vandalism would suggest his commandos are still operating on Bellis," I said. "But there's no reason Fayr has to be there in person. For that matter, we're only assuming it was his group who pulled these latest attacks. The way the various Belldic Intelligence services operate, it's entirely possible that someone else has put the pieces together and started running his own private anti-Modhri crusade."
Bayta looked again at the message. " 'To Frank Compton: meet me at the Fraklog-Oryo Hotel. Magaraa City, Ghonsilya, Tra'hok Unity.' Isn't Magaraa City where one of the Nemuti sculptures was stolen?"
"Very good," I said approvingly. "One of the Vipers, to be exact."
"And the Bellis theft was of one of the Hawks," she said slowly. "And Mr. Smith talked about one of the Lynxes."
"A complete set, in other words," I said. "The final set, actually, if we assume the other two sets were appropriated by the same people."
"Don't you mean the same person?"
I glanced at the store where the three walkers had disappeared. "Either that, or we've got a large and organized gang working." I agreed soberly. "The Magaraa museum theft took place about two months ago, with the Bellis one only five weeks later. That's not nearly enough time for the same team to travel from Nemuti territory to Bellis, case the joint, and prep and pull off a second robbery."
"So the Modhri has them all now?"
"Well, he hasn't got the third Lynx, anyway," I said. "At least, I don't think so."
"Then why was Mr. Smith killed?" Bayta asked.
"Not to get the Lynx," I repeated. "Though come to think of it, that might have been the original plan: lure Smith and the Lynx to Bellis so that the walkers could grab it on their way out of the system."
"If so, they cut it a little fine, didn't they?" she commented. "Mr. Smith was coming in less than an hour before they were scheduled to leave."
"Right, but remember he was delayed six hours waiting for me to get back to Terra Station," I reminded her. "That would have given them plenty of time to negotiate and finalize any transactions." I grimaced. "And possibly to consign Smith's body to deep space."
"What do you suppose went wrong?" Bayta asked.
"That one's easy," I said. "Smith apparently double-crossed them and didn't bring the Lynx."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm positive," I said. "It would have been a three-minute job to search a Quadrail compartment for something that size. If Smith had had it with him, they would have found it. and there would have been no need to beat him to death."
"Unless they wanted to cover their trail."
"A quick snap of the neck would have done that," I said. "No, they don't have the Lynx. But I'd say they really, really want it."