Murder in Cormyr - Chet Williamson [39]
"An unnamed Arabel merchant saw the ghost on the twelfth of Kythorn, and Diccon Picard on the twenty-seventh. But Tobald saw the ghost on the twenty-first, when Grodoveth was not in town."
"Or at least not on Shortshanks's books," Lindavar pointed out. "It's possible he was here and didn't go to the tavern."
"I'll check on that," I said.
"Knowing Tobald," said Benelaius, "it's also possible that he saw a wisp of swamp gas or a will-o'-the-wisp and thought he saw a ghost."
That was true. Our mayor, for all his good points, could easily get excited over nothing. "There's a big gap," I said, "between the twenty-first of Flamerule, when Lukas Spoondrift saw Dovo, to the sixteenth of Eleasias, when Bortas and his wife spotted him. And according to the book, Grodoveth was in Ghars on the second and third of Eleasias. So why no ghost then?"
"Maybe he was there," Lindavar suggested, "but no one rode by. It's possible. Or perhaps Dovo didn't go haunting then."
I shook my head in frustration. "I don't understand," I said. "Grodoveth was investigating the legends of the ghost, yes, but what connection could he have to Dovo? How does the appearance of the ghost do him any good?"
Benelaius stroked the tabby perched on his left shoulder. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. But stop and ask, what do we know about the murderer?"
"That he was right-handed," Lindavar said.
I nodded. "And Grodoveth is left-handed, while everyone else, as far as I know, favors the right hand."
"So should we rule Grodoveth out?" asked Lindavar.
"But," said Benelaius, "is your primary conclusion correct?"
"That Grodoveth is left-handed?" I said. "He does everything with his left hand."
"No no. Your primary conclusion."
"Ah!" said Lindavar. "You mean the deduction that the killer is right-handed."
Benelaius nodded sagely.
"Well," Lindavar said, "Dovo was certainly facing his killer, and the axe blade struck him on the left side of his neck--"
Then I remembered my dream, and how the reassembled Dovo had swung the axe at me.
"Backhand," I said quietly. "A warrior would swing his axe backhand."
"That is a more powerful stroke," Benelaius said.
"In that case," Lindavar said, "the killer would have used his left hand. Making him left-handed instead of right."
"Quite possibly. And Grodoveth is a trained warrior."
"Master," I said. "Are you suggesting that Grodoveth is the killer?"
"I am suggesting nothing. I merely wish for us to get all the facts straight."
"Grodoveth was angry at Dovo at the smithy," Lindavar said, "but making his horse stumble would be no reason for killing him."
"Unless," I added, "he was mad at Dovo about something else, and the horse was just an excuse. Aunsible Durn said that Dovo was asking Grodoveth irritating questions. Maybe the envoy resented them."
Just then the cats began to rise and move en masse toward the front door. In a few seconds we heard the sound of horses' hooves. I opened the door as soon as the knock sounded.
On the small porch stood three men. Mayor Tobald was pale and trembling, and Captain Flim looked his usual stolid self. A third man, whom I didn't know, was with them. He was small and haggard, and his lined and leathery brown skin proclaimed him a gnome.
"Jasper, I must see Benelaius," Tobald said in a rush. "Is he in?"
"Of course, sir. Please, come in."
"Oh, not me, sor," said the gnome in a gravelly voice. "I've got peat and muck all over me boots, I do. Wouldn't want to soil yer foin rugs now, indeed I wouldn't, sor."
"Oh, for mercy sake, Darvik!" said Tobald, who seemed a hairsbreadth from panic. "Come in, man, come in. A little muck won't matter." Easy for him to say, who doesn't have to do the cleaning up of aforesaid muck.
The gnome hesitated, the mayor clucked, and Captain Flim looked impatient with both of them. Benelaius ended the standoff by appearing behind me with Lindavar. "Lord Mayor," he greeted Tobald."To what do we owe the-"
"The honor of the visit, yes, yes," interrupted Tobald. "Murder, Benelaius! There's been another murder!"
"Oh my my my," said my master. "And who