"And then, when he had succeeded in calming her down a bit, she realized the position she was in. She knew that Laird Duncan was a violent, a warped man--very similar to Edouard, Count D"Evreux. She dared not tell him the truth, but she had to tell him something. So she lied.
"She told him that Edouard had asked her up in order to tell her something of importance; that that "something of importance" concerned Laird Duncan"s safety; that the Count told her that he knew of Laird Duncan"s dabbling in black magic; that he threatened to inform Church authorities on Laird Duncan unless she submitted to his desires; that she had struggled with him and ran away."
Lord Darcy spread his hands. "This was, of course, a tissue of lies.
But Laird Duncan believed everything. So great was his ego that he could not believe in her infidelity, although he has been paralyzed for five years."
"How can you be certain that Lady Duncan told the truth?" Father Bright asked warily.
"Aside from the matter of the gown--which Count D"Evreux kept only for women of the common cla.s.s, _not_ the aristocracy--we have the testimony of the actions of Laird Duncan himself. We come then to--
"_Secondus_: Laird Duncan could not have committed the murder physically. _How could a man who was confined to a wheelchair go up that flight of stairs?_ I submit to you that it would have been physically impossible.
"The possibility that he has been pretending all these years, and that he is actually capable of walking, was disproved three hours ago, when he actually injured himself by trying to throttle me. His legs are incapable of carrying him even one step--much less carrying him to the top of that stairway."
Lord Darcy folded his hands complacently.
"There remains," said Father Bright, "the possibility that Laird Duncan killed Count D"Evreux by psychical, by magical means."
Lord Darcy nodded. "That is indeed possible, Reverend Sir, as we both know. But not in this instance. Master Sean a.s.sures me, and I am certain that you will concur, that a man killed by sorcery, by black magic, dies of internal malfunction, not of a bullet through the heart.
"In effect, the Black Sorcerer induces his enemy to kill himself by psychosomatic means. He dies by what is technically known as psychic induction. Master Sean informs me that the commonest--and crudest--method of doing this is by the so-called "simalcrum induction" method. That is, by the making of an image--usually, but not necessarily, of wax--and, using the Law of Similarity, inducing death. The Law of Contagion is also used, since the fingernails, hair, spittle, and so on, of the victim are usually incorporated into the image. Am I correct, Father?"
The priest nodded. "Yes. And, contrary to the heresies of certain materialists, it is not at all necessary that the victim be informed of the operation--although, admittedly, it can, in certain circ.u.mstances, aid the process."
"Exactly," said Lord Darcy. "But it is well known that material objects can be moved by a competent sorcerer--"black" or "white".
Would you explain to my lady the Countess why her brother could not have been killed in that manner?"
Father Bright touched his lips with the tip of his tongue and then turned to the girl sitting next to him. "There is a lack of relevancy.
In this case, the bullet must have been relevant either to the heart or to the gun. To have traveled with a velocity great enough to penetrate, the relevancy to the heart must have been much greater than the relevancy to the gun. Yet the test, witnessed by myself, that was performed by Master Sean indicates that this was not so. The bullet returned to the gun, not to your brother"s heart. The evidence, my dear, is conclusive that the bullet was propelled by purely physical means, and was propelled from the gun."
"Then what was it Laird Duncan did?" the Countess asked.
"_Tertius_:" said Lord Darcy. "Believing what his wife had told him, Laird Duncan flew into a rage. He determined to kill your brother. He used an induction spell. But the spell backfired and almost killed him.
"There are a.n.a.logies on a material plane. If one adds mineral spirits and air to a fire, the fire will be increased. But if one adds ash, the fire will be put out.
"In a similar manner, if one attacks a living being psychically it will die--but if one attacks a dead thing in such a manner, the psychic energy will be absorbed, to the detriment of the person who has used it.
"In theory, we could charge Laird Duncan with attempted murder, for there is no doubt that he did attempt to kill your brother, my lady.
_But your brother was already dead at the time!_
"The resultant dissipation of psychic energy rendered Laird Duncan unconscious for several hours, during which Lady Duncan waited in suspenseful fear.
"Finally, when Laird Duncan regained consciousness, he realized what had happened. He knew that your brother was already dead when he attempted the spell. He thought, therefore, that Lady Duncan had killed the Count.
"On the other hand, Lady Duncan was perfectly well aware that she had left Edouard alive and well. So she thought the black magic of her husband had killed her erstwhile lover."
"Each was trying to protect the other," Father Bright said. "Neither is completely evil, then. There may be something we can do for Laird Duncan."
"I wouldn"t know about that, Father," Lord Darcy said. "The Healing Art is the Church"s business, not mine." He realized with some amus.e.m.e.nt that he was paraphrasing Dr. Pateley. "What Laird Duncan had not known," he went on quickly, "was that his wife had taken a gun up to the Count"s bedroom. That put a rather different light on her visit, you see. That"s why he flew into such a towering rage at me--not because I was accusing him or his wife of murder, but because I had cast doubt on his wife"s behavior."
He turned his head to look at the table where the Irish sorcerer was working. "Ready, Master Sean?"
"Aye, my lord. All I have to do is set up the screen and light the lantern in the projector."
"Go ahead, then." He looked back at Father Bright and the Countess.
"Master Sean has a rather interesting lantern slide I want you to look at."
"The most successful development I"ve ever made, if I may say so, my lord," the sorcerer said.
"Proceed."
Master Sean opened the shutter on the projector, and a picture sprang into being on the screen.
There were gasps from Father Bright and the Countess.
It was a woman. She was wearing the gown that had hung in the Count"s closet. A b.u.t.ton had been torn off, and the gown gaped open. Her right hand was almost completely obscured by a dense cloud of smoke.
Obviously she had just fired a pistol directly at the onlooker.
But that was not what had caused the gasps.
The girl was beautiful. Gloriously, ravishingly beautiful. It was not a delicate beauty. There was nothing flower-like or peaceful in it. It was a beauty that could have but one effect on a normal human male.
She was the most physically desirable woman one could imagine.
_Retro mea, Sathanas_, Father Bright thought wryly. _She"s almost obscenely beautiful._
Only the Countess was unaffected by the desirability of the image.
She saw only the startling beauty.
"Has neither of you seen that woman before? I thought not," said Lord Darcy. "Nor had Laird or Lady Duncan. Nor Sir Pierre.
"Who is she? We don"t know. But we can make a few deductions. She must have come to the Count"s room by appointment. This is quite obviously the woman Edouard mentioned to Lady Duncan--the woman, the "she" that the Scots n.o.blewoman could not compare with. It is almost certain she is a commoner; otherwise she would not be wearing a robe from the Count"s collection. She must have changed right there in the bedroom.
Then she and the Count quarreled--about what, we do not know. The Count had previously taken Lady Duncan"s pistol away from her and had evidently carelessly let it lay on that table you see behind the girl.
She grabbed it and shot him. Then she changed clothes again, hung up the robe, and ran away. No one saw her come or go. The Count had designed the stairway for just that purpose.
"Oh, we"ll find her, never fear--now that we know what she looks like.
"At any rate," Lord Darcy concluded, "the mystery is now solved to my complete satisfaction, and I shall so report to His Highness."
Richard, Duke of Normandy, poured two liberal portions of excellent brandy into a pair of crystal goblets. There was a smile of satisfaction on his youthful face as he handed one of the goblets to Lord Darcy. "Very well done, my lord," he said. "Very well done."
"I am gratified to hear Your Highness say so," said Lord Darcy, accepting the brandy.
"But how were you so certain that it was _not_ someone from outside the castle? Anyone could have come in through the main gate. That"s always open."