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greater puzzle than how the one we fought could have escaped to nurture his
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wickedness in secret.
I was on a roll. "We're talking another dead Loghyr here, aren't we?" It
didn't take much imagination to see how my old buddy here could kick ass if he
wasn't so damned lazy.
We are. We are speaking of the only Loghyr ever to have gone mad. We are
speaking of a true son of the Beast, if you will, who did great evils while he
lived, in the guises of several of your history's bloodiest villains, and who
strove to do greater evils still after the righteous slew him.
We chattered back and forth. He convinced me that not only could a live
Loghyr pass for human, but that it had been done countless times and some of
the worst men of olden times and a couple of saints hadn't been human at all.
But he couldn't make me understand why, even though we humans are notorious
meddlers. Loghyr are supposed to stand outside and observe and look down their
noses.
"Interesting as hell. I'm learning things about Loghyr I never suspected.
We'll have to have a long chat someday. But we don't have time right now. We
have to make moves and make them fast, or all the machineries of the state
will have us under siege and we won't be able to do a thing."
You may be right.
"You figure there's a Loghyr out there somewhere who's revived the old cult?
I'll buy that. But why the hell are they tearing up TunFaire?"
I must confess, that has me baffled. It is my guess that Magister Peridont
could have told us. The Craight woman might know. She was trusted more than
any rational man should trust a woman. Peridont may have revealed himself.
Find her, Garrett. Bring her to me.
"Right. Like snapping my fingers."
Also find, or at least identify, the man who was in that apartment opposite
hers. I have a hunch he is as important as the Craight woman. Perhaps more so.
A hunch ? The Dead Man? That flabby lump of pure reason? It couldn't be.
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Dean came in. "We couldn't find anything, Mr. Garrett."
"Keep looking. There's got to be something."
Not necessarily, Garrett. All there needs be is the perception that there is
something.
I'd thought that myself but I didn't like it. "She set us up as a diversion?"
There is that possibility. It gains weight if we presume Magister Peridont
told her something that would be of interest to those who are plaguing us.
"I just might break both her kneecaps next time I see her." I could see her
siccing those guys on us in hopes they'd get into it with the Dead Man. It was
the kind of stunt I might have tried if I wanted somebody off my back.
A troop of the Watch is coming, Garrett. You would be wise to absent yourself
now. I will deal with them. Bring me that woman.
I ducked out the back way, leaving Dean to bolt up behind me, mumbling and
grumbling and secretly pleased to be close to the heart of things.
Maya stuck with me again. There was no arguing her into going back to the
Doom.
"At least let them know you're alive and healthy. I don't want Tey Koto
ambushing me because she thinks I've trifled with you."
She burst out laughing. I guess I would have, too, if somebody had tossed
"trifle" at me. "You're too much, Garrett. How can somebody in your business
have so many little blind spots and naiveté's?"
It was a question you would expect from someone beyond her age. But the young
aren't stupid and sometimes they're more perceptive than us old cynics with
our arsenals of preconceptions. I told her the truth.
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"I nurture them. There are poetic truths as well as scientific truths. They
maybe look silly to you, but I think they deserve to be sustained."
She laughed but there was no mockery in it, just pleasure. "Good for you,
Garrett. Now you know why I love you. Inconsistencies and all."
The little witch sure knew how to rattle a guy.
Back about a thousand years ago the other evening, Morley had made a crack
about how I might be better off if everybody thought I was dead. I didn't know
how to make that look believable, but I figured I could do the next best thing
and disappear. Wedge and my angels had taken off. Though the neighborhood was
in a state of ferment, with what looked like the whole damned population of
TunFaire in the streets wanting to know what had happened, I didn't think
anybody else would be watching. It seemed the right time to get lost.
"Where can we go?" Maya asked.
"Good question." There had to be somewhere nobody would think to look,
someplace we could get in and out of without anybody noticing. Someplace we
could live a while without the regular business of life giving us away. I
couldn't think of anywhere perfect, though I had a few morally indebted
ex-clients who might put me up.
Maya asked, "How about that apartment across from Hester's? She's gone and
everybody's sacked her place, so nobody ought to be interested in the
building. And you know that squeaky little guy isn't going to come back."
"Squeaky?"
"Yeah. You know. Dorky and creepy at the same time."
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She was right. The place was as decent a hideout as we were likely to find.
We headed over there. We had no more trouble getting inside than we'd had
before. It must be nice having the kingpin holding an umbrella over your head.
Sometimes. Hadn't done me that much good, had it?
We barely got inside before Maya started grumbling. "I'm hungry."
"I saw some stuff in the kitchen when I tossed the place."
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