Murder in Cormyr - Chet Williamson [73]
"Y… yessir," Khlerat said.
"And who was it?"
"Mayor Tobald, sir. He wished to examine it to make sure all was well for the arrival of the council."
"And let me guess-he told you not to bother, that he could examine it himself without you accompanying him."
"Yessir. That's right, sir. Just like you say." I could see Khlerat's head nodding just the way that Marmwitz's had, and hoped I didn't come down with such fear-of-authority palsy when I reached their age.
"Did anyone else have access to the cistern today?"
"No, sir."
"Could anyone have gotten to the water supply without your knowing about it?"
"Absolutely not, sir!" That was more like it. There was life in the old boy yet.
"How odd," said Lindavar with more than a touch of sarcasm, "that the only person who had the opportunity to poison the water supply is the only person who did not drink from it today. A dark mouth, Mayor Tobald, is not the thing to have this night."
"Nor is a pronounced limp," said Benelaius, "which I noticed as you entered, Lord Mayor. A limp possibly due to the fact that you have not been taking your gout medicine, which I had prescribed for you and which Jasper had delivered. Could it be that you didn't take your remaining pills because you didn't have them? Because you dropped them on the floor of the cave where Grodoveth was killed, and where Jasper later found them crushed? You said you were never in that cave, Lord Mayor. So how did the pills come to be there?"
The form next to my master had begun trembling, the shoulders hunching as if in the grip of a terrible rage. The Purple Dragons, caught up in the drama, were gripping the hilts of their swords, as was Captain Flim, who had moved nearer the mayor. "Is that everything, sir?" Flim said, his voice cold with anger.
"One thing more," said Benelaius, displacing Grimalkin just long enough to reach into his robe and come out with a small metal oval. He held it up, and in the dim light I could just see the symbol etched into its surface:
"This was found with the vial of poison. It is the sigil of the Iron Throne."
A wordless cry of rage started to bubble up from Tobald's throat as he got to his feet. Unintelligible at first, it transformed itself into words. "You wretch! You meddling old fool! You should have been the first to die!"
"I suspect it would have gone more smoothly for you if I had," said Benelaius gently.
"Here stands the killer and the traitor," Lindavar pronounced. "A man willing to murder not only the council but everyone in the town-all the people who trusted him as their leader-in order to aid the Iron Throne."
"The orders from Suzail," Barthelm said, and his deep tones sounded like the voice of doom, "were to have this monster put to death immediately."
"That was the order of the king's court," said Benelaius.
"And it shall be done," Captain Flim said, starting to move toward Tobald, who, in his shivering rage, resembled a blood-bloated spider, ready to run from the fist that is crashing down.
Then a great many things happened. I saw all the cats by the braziers move at once, and the low bowls toppled from their stands, the coals gleaming brightly for a second as they met the air. But their lights were extinguished as they fell over the rail and landed on the ground just below. The piazza and all upon it were instantly thrust into a black, clinging darkness, and I heard the rattle of arms as the Purple Dragons moved to cut off Tobald's escape.
They were too late. The traitor's chair had been placed by the single opening through the railing to the swamp, and Tobald had instantly bolted when the braziers toppled, taking his chances with the swamp and the darkness rather than his executioners. Try as I might, I could not hear his escaping footfalls over the clatter of the blindly seeking soldiers.
"Stand still!" Captain Flim called. "Alight! Someone make a light!" After what seemed like an eternity, I saw a feeble glow inside the door of the cottage, and Lindavar came