“Thank you, my lord.” Lord Darcy settled himself again in the red leather chair.
His eyes searched each of the nine in turn, then he said, “We are faced here with a case of treason and murder.
“Although I am aware that most of you know the facts, legally I must assume that you do not. Therefore, I shall have to discuss each of those facts in turn. You must understand that the evidence proving these facts will be produced after my preliminary presentation.
“Three days ago, shortly before eleven o’clock on the morning of Tuesday, October 25, Anno Domini One Thousand Nine Hundred and Sixty-Six, a man named Georges Barbour was stabbed to death in a cheap rooming house in Cherbourg. Evidence which will be produced before this Court will show that Goodman Georges was a double agent; that is, he was a man who, while pretending to work for the Secret Service of His Slavonic Majesty King Casimir IX, was also in the pay of our own Naval Intelligence, and was, as far as the evidence shows, loyal to the Empire. Will you testify to that, Captain Smollett?” he asked, looking at the second chair from his right.
“I will, m’lud Advocate.”
“Very shortly after he was killed,” Lord Darcy went on, “Commander Lord Ashley of the Naval Intelligence Corps reported the discovery of Goodman Georges’ body to the Armsmen of Cherbourg. He also reported that he had been ordered to give one hundred golden sovereigns to Goodman Georges because the double agent in question needed it to pay off a certain Goodman FitzJean.”
Bit by bit, item by item, Lord Darcy outlined the case to those present, omitting no detail except the precise nature and function of the confusion projector. Lord Darcy described it simply as a “highly important Naval secret.”
He described the discovery of the murder of Sir James Zwinge, the attack upon the Damoselle Tia, the fight upon the bridge, the Damoselle Tia’s statement, the discovery of the body of Goodman Paul Nichols, and the search for and arrest of Master Ewen MacAlister.
“The questions before this Court,” Lord Darcy said, “are: Who killed those three men: And why? It is the contention of the Crown that one person, and one only, is responsible for all three deaths.”
He looked over the nine faces before him, trying to assess the expressions on their faces. Not one betrayed any sign of guilt, not even the one whom Lord Darcy knew was guilty.
“I see you have a question, Captain Smollett. Would you ask it, please? No, don’t bother to rise.”
Captain Smollett cleared his throat. “M’lud.” He paused, cleared his throat again. “Since we already have the guilty man under arrest, may I ask why this inquiry is necessary?”
“Because we do not have the guilty man under arrest, Captain. Master Ewen, no matter what his actual crimes, is not guilty of a single murder — much less a triple one.”
Captain Smollett said “Um,” and nothing more.
“You have before you, my lords, Your Grace, gentlemen, every bit of pertinent evidence. It is now the duty of myself as Advocate of the Crown to link up that evidence into a coherent chain. First, let us dismiss the theory that Master Ewen MacAlister was more than remotely connected with these murders. Master Ewen was, it is true, an agent of His Slavonic Majesty, working with the owner of the Manzana de Oro, the Sidi al-Nasir. This evidence can be produced later; let us merely accept these facts as true.”
He turned to the Chief of Naval Intelligence. “Captain Smollett.”
“Yes, m’lud?”
“I wish to put to you a hypothetical question, and for the sake of security let us keep it hypothetical. If… I say, if… you were aware of the identity of the Polish Chief of Intelligence for France and the British Isles, would you order him assassinated?”
Captain Smollett’s eyes narrowed. “No, m’lud, never.”
“Why not, Captain?”
“It would be stupid, m’lud. Yes. As long as we know who he is… uh… if we knew who he was… it would be much more to our advantage to keep an eye on him, to watch him; to see to it, in fact, that he got the information that we wanted him to have, rather than the information he wants. Also, our knowing the Chief of Polish Intelligence would lead us to his agents. It is much easier to keep the body under surveillance when one can identify the head, m’lud.”
“Then would you say, Captain, that it would be very stupid of Polish Intelligence to have murdered Master Sir James Zwinge?”
“Very stupid, m’lud. Wouldn’t be at all good Intelligence tactics. Not at all.” For a moment, Captain Smollett blinked solemnly, digesting this new thought.
“Not even if Master Sir James had discovered that Master Ewen was working for the Poles?” Lord Darcy asked.
“Hmn-m-m. Probably not. Much better to pull Master Ewen out, move him to another post, give him a new identity.”
“Thank you, Captain Smollett.
“Now. As you have seen,” his words took in the entire company, “there is some question about whether Master Ewen could have committed this crime by Black Magic, and so skillfully hidden the evidence thereof that his complicity in the crime was undetectable. I put it to you, my lords, Your Grace, gentlemen, that he could not.
“Father Patrique.” He looked at the Benedictine.
The priest bowed his head. “Yes, my lord?”
“You have examined Master Ewen since his arrest, Reverend Father?”
“I have, my lord.”
“Is Master Ewen’s Talent as strong, as powerful, as effective as that of Master Sean O Lochlainn?”
“My lord Advocate…” The good father then turned his attention to my lord of London. “…And may it please the Court…”
“Proceed, Reverend Sir,” said my lord the Marquis.
“…I feel that, while my own testimony is adequate, it is not the best. In answer to your direct question, my lord, I must say that Master Ewen’s Talent is weaker, far poorer, than that of Master Sean O Lochlainn.
“But I put it to you, my lords, that this is not the best evidence. Observe, if you will, the relative ease with which Master Sean conquered Master Ewen in the battle of wills at the Manzana de Oro. Observe how very simple it was to break the spells on Master Ewen’s room lock and upon the carpetbag in which he carried his tools. I beg your pardon, my lord Advocate, if I am out of order.”
“Not at all, Reverend Sir,” said Lord Darcy. “But I will ask you once more. Will you testify that Master Sean’s Talent is much more powerful than Master Ewen’s?”
“It is, my lord.”
Lord Darcy looked at Grand Master Sir Lyon Gandolphus Grey.
“Have you anything to add to this, Grand Master?”
Sir Lyon nodded. “If it please the Court, I should like to put a question to Commander Lord Ashley.”
“Permission granted,” rumbled de London. “Ask your question.”
“My Lord Commander,” said Sir Lyon. “You have described to the investigators the use by Master Ewen of the Tarnhelm Effect upon his smallsword. Would you—”
“One moment,” said Lord Darcy. “I should like My Lord Commander to testify directly. If you would, Lord Ashley?”
“Of course, my lord.”
Lord Darcy looked at Sir Lyon. “You want a description of the battle on Somerset Bridge, Sir Lyon?”
“Yes, if you please, my lord.”
Lord Darcy looked at Lord Ashley. “If you will, My Lord Commander.”
Lord Ashley described exactly the sword fight on the bridge.
Then Sir Lyon said, “With the Court’s permission I should like to ask the witness a question or two.”
“Granted,” said My Lord de London.
“My Lord Commander,” said Sir Lyon, “what kind of sword was Master Ewen using?”
“A smallsword, Grand Master. A sword with a triangular cross section — no edge — about two and a half feet in length — very sharp point.”