Chapter Five

Tasha presented herself at the station with decidedly ill grace. ‘Yes?’ she said, slouching into Nuritov’s office with her cap pulled so low over her face, Konrad saw nothing but her nose and lips.

‘Nice to see you again,’ said Konrad.

She lifted her chin, and cast him a most unfavourable look. ‘You couldn’t have chosen a better time, I suppose? It had to be tonight?’

‘Murderers are not usually considerate about things like holidays.’

Tasha brightened at the word “murderer”, her resentment fading a little. Wretch. Lamaeni she may be, but she was only fourteen. ‘You are far too young to be so bloodthirsty,’ Konrad informed her.

‘Oh yes? At what age did you begin?’

Nuritov intervened. ‘Please try to be vaguely polite to our associates, Tasha.’

She flashed Konrad a swift grin, and doffed her cap in acknowledgement of the inspector’s words. ‘You have a job for me, I take it?’

‘One of our victims was on the streets for a while,’ said Konrad. ‘We need you to find out about him.’ He described the laughing man as minutely as he could, though he left out the mirthful part. Better not encourage Tasha’s macabre side too much.

‘Ivorak,’ she said immediately.

‘What?’

‘That’s his name. Ivorak.’

‘You know him.’

Tasha took off her cap and stuffed it into her pocket, tousling her flattened hair with her fingers. ‘He made himself memorable. Prowling around the city all night long, asking for volk, volkov. His Assevi was decent but sometimes uncertain and he spoke with a thick accent. Nobody took the trouble to understand him, so no one knew what he was after. Until he robbed that library.’

Nuritov was disapproving. ‘You told me nothing of this.’

‘You didn’t ask,’ replied Tasha with a shrug. ‘And it was not relevant, before. I have no more idea than you do why he robbed the library, or which book he took. I never saw him with a book.’ She paused, and added, ‘Come to think of it, I haven’t seen him since that robbery.’

‘Apparently he found volkov,’ Konrad said. ‘Or specifically, the Volkov Library. He had no further need to go looking.’

‘Maybe.’ Tasha frowned, and seemed about to say something, but she changed her mind and remained silent.

‘He spoke with an accent?’ Konrad prompted. ‘So he was foreign. Do you know where he was from?’

‘I didn’t recognise the accent, but I don’t as a rule.’

Konrad mulled that over, but his thoughts did not carry him far. Ivorak. It was good to have a name for him besides Laughing Man, but it was of little help. And they had already known that he was interested in the Volkov Library. ‘Think, Tasha. Did he ever say anything that might hint at what kind of book he was looking for?’

To his disappointment, Tasha shook her head immediately. ‘He hardly said anything at all, at least in my hearing.’

Konrad sighed. ‘I have a feeling that Ivorak is the key to this whole business, and it’s damned thin.’

‘Why, Konrad?’ said Nuritov.

‘Because we had three killings in quick succession and then... nothing. It’s been hours. After Ivorak, it all stopped.’

‘It might be a bit soon to conclude that,’ Nuritov pointed out.

‘Let us hope not.’

‘The burned book.’ Nuritov uttered only those three words, then stopped. He sat in his chair, pipe in hand, gaze fixed upon nothing.

‘What of it?’

‘We assumed that Ivorak burned it, but what if his killer was the one who threw it on the fire?’

‘That is possible,’ Konrad conceded.

‘Perhaps it contained something the killer did not want Ivorak reading.’

‘Something to do with folklore?’ Konrad could not keep a note of scepticism out of his tone.

‘Too far-fetched?’ Nuritov restored his pipe to his mouth and puffed. ‘Mm. Could be.’

It did seem unlikely, but Konrad tucked the thought away anyway. In his line of work, the unlikely frequently proved far more likely than he would prefer.

The remains of the book in question lay in a drawer in Nuritov’s desk. Konrad wanted to take it to the Library to see if anybody recognised what was left of it; a long shot, but the attempt must be made. It would have to wait until morning, however. Nobody would be at the library tonight.

Then again, nobody would be at the library in the morning, either. It was Solstice.

Konrad heaved himself out of his chair, his limbs protesting at the effort. It was past midnight, and who knew when he would be able to go to bed. He stubbornly suppressed his weariness. ‘Excuse me,’ he murmured. ‘I am going to break in to a library.’

‘I will pretend I did not hear that,’ said Nuritov.

‘Good point. Perhaps one ought not to announce such intentions to the police.’

‘All in a good cause.’

Konrad bowed. Tasha had turned for the door; he caught the back of her coat before she could leave. ‘Tasha. You’re with me.’

She sighed deeply. ‘Why? Cannot you manage to get into a poorly secured building by yourself?’

‘Oh, yes. But I am going to need help searching, and I can hardly ask the Inspector to come along.’

‘Why not? I bet he’s brilliant at trespassing, and if you get caught, who better to have along?’

Konrad ventured an enquiring glance in Nuritov’s direction, but the Inspector shook his head. ‘With regret, I must decline. Going a bit too far, there.’

‘That’s why he needs people like you and me,’ Konrad said to Tasha. ‘Come along. If we hurry, we might be finished by sunrise.’

Tasha slouched into the folds of her heavy dark coat, a vision of abject misery, and Konrad briefly felt guilty.

He suppressed that feeling, too. Tasha was an official police employee, albeit one they did not widely advertise. Sometimes work required sacrifices.

‘Albina Olga?’ he said to Nuritov on his way out of the door.

Nuritov nodded and hauled himself to his feet, with about as much enthusiasm as Konrad had shown. ‘I am working on that.’

Tasha was not such congenial company as Nanda, and Konrad was ungrateful enough to wish for an exchange, as they walked to the Volkov Library in sullen silence. But Nan had left a houseful of guests behind at her home, and Konrad had not had the heart to detain her from them any longer.

‘Cheer up,’ he said to Tasha. ‘Worse Solstices have been had.’ Fittingly, a flurry of wind blew a spiral of air around his face as he spoke, and he received a mouthful of snow.

Tasha merely grunted.

‘What were you doing, before?’

‘Street folk were gathering at Parel’s Bridge. There was wine. Vasily’s gave out a couple of kegs.’

‘Vasily’s? You mean the wine merchant?’

‘I don’t know. Probably?’

How she could fail to see the connection flabbergasted Konrad — until he realised that their questions had centred around Ivorak. Had they remembered to mention Vasily at all?

‘He was killed tonight,’ Konrad said.

Tasha stopped. He felt her gaze on him, though he could not see her face in the darkness of the street. ‘Same case?’

‘Yes. Died the same way. Almost certainly the same killer.’

‘Hmm.’ Tasha walked on, and said nothing more.

‘Were you there long? Did you see Vasily bring in the kegs?’

‘No, I showed up late. I didn’t see him, I just heard people repeating his name. It was impressive largesse. Good wine, not slop.’

‘I take it you did not see Ivorak there, either?’

‘No. But he might have been there, before I arrived.’

Konrad abandoned the questions, permitting himself a brief sigh. This particular picture was coming together fraction by fraction; pieces kept dropping into his lap but none of them seemed to fit together. If Ivorak and Vasily had both been at the Parel’s Bridge gathering, what did that mean? Did it matter? Perhaps it was only a coincidence.

‘Did you see an old woman dressed all in red?’ he hazarded.

‘No,’ Tasha said sourly. ‘Something else you haven’t told me?’

‘Third victim. Or second, in order of killing. Albina Olga Narolina.’

‘I don’t remember anyone like that but as I said, I was late.’

Konrad thought quickly. ‘How would you like to go back after all?’

‘Huh? I thought you wanted help storming the library.’

‘I do, but I also want help scoping the bridge party before it’s over.’

‘Sounds like my kind of work!’

‘I thought so. Ask around, see if Ivorak was there. If he was, I’d like to know when he left and why, if anyone knows. Same question about Vasily. And see if anybody remembers Albina being there.’ The latter was improbable, for he had no reason to think that Albina Narolina was homeless. But it was worth a try.

‘On it!’ said Tasha enthusiastically, and darted away.

‘Try not to get too drunk!’ he called after her. Only belatedly did he remember that lamaeni did not precisely consume food or drink the same way he did; they dined upon the raw energies of the living. Could they get drunk on wine? She would probably be feasting upon the living guests, instead. A little sip from each of many guests would cause no harm, though he hoped there were not too many lamaeni at the bridge.

‘Wouldn’t dream of it!’ Tasha carolled back, and he smiled.

The Volkov Library was unassuming in character. Situated on a residential street, sandwiched between rows of moderately prosperous brick houses on either side, it looked like a private dwelling itself. Only its grand stone portico hinted at its higher calling.

Konrad veered around to the rear of the building, and applied his talented Malykant’s fingers to the icy-cold lock. A soft click sounded as the mechanism bowed to his will, and the lock sprang open. He stepped inside.

Light, please, serpents, he asked — speaking silently, just in case anybody lingered at the library. He did not think he had company. The building had a reassuring air of emptiness, a heavy silence that suggested he was as alone as he could wish.

Eetapi and Ootapi exuded their faint, horrible glow. It was pallid and sickly and quite disturbing, especially when encountered as the sole source of light in an empty, pitch-black building well after midnight. But at least he could see.

The back of the library housed a series of storerooms, Konrad soon discovered. Boxes and boxes of books, neatly labelled, lined wall after wall in chamber after chamber, and the sight made Konrad blanch. How could anybody find anything in here? He gave up after a while, and walked straight through to the main hall. This proved to be small, and not at all imposing, but its walls were lined with handsome shelves filled with dust-free, leather-bound books, as a library should be. Near the front was a desk, and inside that desk was a huge tome. Konrad hauled the massive volume out and spread it open.

What are we doing here, Master?

‘We are checking the library catalogue, Ootapi.’

A short silence. Reading a book?

‘Yes. What else does one do at a library?’

A longer silence followed. There is nothing dead in here, is there.

‘I doubt it. Maybe a mouse or two.’

Mice. The serpent’s tone was heavy with disgust. Not a single corpse! Nothing.

‘Just books.’

Ootapi heaved a great, slithery sigh and sank a foot or two in the air, until his sinuous, incorporeal body hovered barely a few inches over Konrad’s head. His eerie glow took on a dejected green colour.

‘Ootapi. I cannot read if you are going to sulk right in front of my face like that.’

Good.

‘Which means we will be here for much longer than necessary.’

Amid much muttering, the serpent rectified both his posture and his hue.

‘Keep your brother in line, Eetapi, if you please,’ sighed Konrad. ‘This task is trying enough as it is.’

Yes, Master, but you should know that I hate you as well.

‘Your objection is acknowledged.’

The book was truly vast, Konrad was disheartened to observe. It was two feet tall and almost the same again in width, its pages a few inches thick. What’s more, there was a second, matching volume still in the desk.

His plan had been to browse the library’s catalogue in hopes of matching the fragmented title against the records. He had found another stack of smaller volumes containing lists of books currently checked out; it was his hope that, by cross-referencing the two, he might be able to discover the title of the burned book, or at least to narrow it down to a list of possibilities. The Volkov Library was small and obscure; surely their catalogue could not be unmanageably huge? But he began to realise why the librarians had yet to identify the missing book, even after a week.

‘Neither of you can read, I suppose?’ Konrad said to the serpents.

No, they said in chorus.

‘Curses.’ Konrad relinquished this faint hope with a stab of regret, and settled in to read.

Much later, he had a headache, a crick in his neck, a throbbing pain in his lower back, and a short but growing list of titles which appeared to match the fragmented words gleaned from the spine of the burned book.

He was halfway through the first volume.

So long had he sat in silence, unbroken even by the complaints of the serpents, that when a voice spoke from the depths of the darkness he almost expired of fright on the spot.

‘You look bored,’ said Nanda.

Konrad jumped violently, and a tiny tearing sound split the silence anew. He’d ripped the page he had been in the process of turning. ‘Hello, Nan,’ he said weakly. ‘Um, what are you... doing here...?’

‘Ootapi fetched me. He said his life is in danger.’

Konrad blinked in confusion. He could barely see Nanda, as she stood beyond the pale circle of ghost-glow. ‘He lied.’

‘I know. He does that a lot. But he may have stumbled over more truth than he realised, for the tedium looks likely to carry you off before too much longer. What is it that you’re doing?’

Konrad explained. The plan that had seemed so promising hours before now struck him as foolish in the extreme, and he fretted over how much time he had wasted on the pursuit. Two hours at least, surely?

‘Madness,’ Nanda said firmly, and his heart sank a little. ‘What did you mean by embarking upon such a task without help? You should have called me sooner.’

‘You were busy.’

‘Do you have any idea what time it is? My guests left some time ago, or they are asleep.’

‘You should be asleep, too.’

‘So should you. What is your excuse?’

‘Um. Murder and mayhem?’

‘That should suffice for both of us, shouldn’t it? Hand me that book.’

Nan, of course, proved to be far more skilled at the task than he. She had a way of skimming lightly over the page, her eyes gliding past title after irrelevant title and only pausing when she encountered the word folklore. Her pace far outstripped his, and by the time he had laboured his way to the end of the first volume, Nanda had gone through the whole of hers. Her company, too, seemed to speed the process along, for her mere presence leavened the heavy, hushed atmosphere of the deserted library, and made Konrad forget his headache and the pain in his back.

Their list, when finally compiled, consisted of more than fifty titles. Nanda immediately took up her pen again, and began skimming through that, too, crossing off title after title.

‘What are you doing?’

‘These do not fit. Look at the book. Not every single volume containing the word “folklore” could be a match. It has to be a short title, and “folklore” must be the first or second word — and if the second, the first word could only be something short like “the”.’ She crossed off a few more with thick, decisive black lines.

‘You put me to shame,’ Konrad said. ‘I wouldn’t have thought of that.’

‘You probably would have, if you were not so tired, or thinking of twelve other things at once.’

Kindness in her, but Konrad knew it was not the truth. In many ways, Nanda was simply smarter than he. Particularly about anything remotely scholarly; it was not Konrad’s strength.

‘Nineteen left,’ Nanda said when she had finished. ‘Now let me at the list of checked out books.’

Once the cross-referencing was complete, Nanda presented him with a final list of only eleven titles. The other eight were listed as on loan at the time of the robbery, so they could not have been the book that Ivorak took.

Konrad browsed through them, uninspired, until he reached the title second from the end of the list.

Lost folklore of Kayesir.

‘That one,’ he said, indicating it with a forefinger.

Nanda’s brows rose. ‘Why that one?’

‘Because...’ Konrad sought for a way to put his vague thoughts into words. ‘Because Kayesir keeps coming up. The killer asked for Kayesiri claret at Vasily’s wine shop. The Vasily family’s main rivals are the Kaysiri family, Iyakim. I would be willing to bet that the wine Vasily gave out to the Parel’s Bridge gathering was Kayesiri, too.’

‘It is a rather thin list of associations,’ Nanda pointed out.

With which observation he could not argue, because she was right. But his instincts told him not to discount the links, however tenuous they appeared to be.

He put the whole list into his pocket and stood up, wincing as the cramped muscles in his neck and back stretched. ‘I won’t discount the rest,’ he promised. ‘But I think the Kayesir connection should be explored first.’

‘Very well, I have no argument to make there.’ Nanda smiled tiredly at him, and followed it up with a vast yawn. ‘Do you suppose we have time to sleep a little?’

Konrad thought about that. ‘You do,’ he decided. ‘And I hope you will. I want to go back to the station. Nuritov must have more information about Albina Olga by now, and Tasha may have returned with her report about Parel’s Bridge.’

Nanda gave a soft, barely audible sigh, then straightened her shoulders manfully. ‘You know I will not leave you to manage alone.’

‘I can manage alone! I have been doing so for years.’

‘Badly.’

‘That’s not—’ Konrad broke off, sentence incomplete, for a faint sound caught his ears: the sound of a soft footfall.

Serpents! he snapped. Who or what approaches?

They were asleep, the slithering wretches. They came awake with a start, gabbling excuses.

Hush! Find out who brings us company!

He did not truly require their aid, for his heart and his gut told him exactly who had entered the library. The confirmation came quickly.

It is him! The man who followed us to the docks!

The killer, stalking Konrad again. And Konrad had Nanda by his side.