Ten Little Wizards: A Lord Darcy Novel by Michael Kurland, Randall Garrett Page A

words carefully. “I performed a hologramic spell on the room, to find traces of whoever was in the room during or since the crime.” He turned to Sir Darryl and His Grace of Paris. “It was the double-fringe moire test, using sandalwood, finely-divided charcoal, and myrrh; are you familiar with it, Sir Darryl? Your Grace?”
    “I have used a variant of it for, ah, less serious purposes,” Sir Darryl said. “A Wizard Laureate spends a large part of his time devising entertainments, and this lends itself to a certain impressive sort of divination. All quite good-hearted, I assure you. Do you know the method, Your Grace? It’s quite showy.”
    “I’ve read of it in the literature,” Archbishop Maximilian answered. “I’m sorry I missed a chance to see it done. I thought it required two sorcerers.”
    “Yes, that’s right,” Sir Darryl said, looking bemused.
    “It is a lot easier with an assistant, but it can be done alone. You have to be careful to—well, I’ll go into it later with Your Grace and Sir Darryl, if you like. In the meantime...”
    Master Sean turned back to the others. “I don’t want to color my facts with my suppositions,” he said. “My facts are the result of good, reliable magic. My suppositions are just that—suppositions—and may be totally wrong.”
    “And what are these facts?” Duke Richard asked.
    “The man who was in the room with Master Raimun when he was killed—the man we must suppose is the killer—showed up only slightly on the hologram. He did not make much of a psychic impression on the room—on his surroundings. That is the fact. It was as though he was only partially there. What that means, I cannot tell you.”
    “Perhaps the man was only there for a brief time,” Marquis Sherrinford suggested.
    “No, my lord,” Master Sean said. “I am not making myself clear, but then it is not a clear concept to grasp hold of. This person was in that room for about half an hour. I know I have been saying ‘man,’ but I shouldn’t have. There is no indication of the gender of the person. But in some way I cannot explain, it wasn’t a whole person. The psychic afterimage of this person did not show up nearly as strongly, as clearly, as it should have.”
    “Come now, this is very interesting,” Lord Darcy said. “If I were to ask you for your supposition, Master Sean—with the understanding that it may be totally inaccurate, but just to get a better feel of what you are trying to describe—what would you say? How would you categorize what you saw?”
    “My lord, I am not a superstitious man,” Master Sean said. “Being a sorcerer leaves little room for superstition. A superstitious magician is unable to manipulate symbols properly, and symbolism is a large part of magic. But with that said—my lord, if I had to characterize the impressions of the other person who was in that room with Master Raimun, I’d say it was a ghost!”
    The Archbishop of Paris crossed himself. “Remember, Master Sean, that there are supernatural happenings that are regarded by the Church as valid experiences. And there are supernatural beings that are regarded as real.”
    “Of course, Your Grace,” Master Sean said. “I’d not be talking about any such. I’ve never had the experience myself of running across any of them, and I can’t say that I’d care to; but a true supernatural being would probably show up even stronger on a hologram than would a mortal. It is the essence of life spirit that is detected, not physical bulk.”
    “I don’t care whether Master Raimun was stabbed by a ghost or by a gazelle,” Duke Richard said, slapping his hand down on the hardwood table. “What I want to know is whether it is related to the threat to His Majesty.”
    “As to that, I cannot say, Your Highness,” Master Sean replied. “I wish I could. There was none of the characteristic residual miasma of evil one might expect in such a case; but then, in most cases evil is a matter of