Realms of Shadow - Lizz Baldwin [8]
"But why?" Wentar sputtered. "It's hardly logical to commit a crime and erase all memory of the object you plotted so carefully to steal. How did she ever hope to remember she had Ptack's research notes, let alone find where she'd hidden them?"
"She'd probably already sold them or traded them for some other consideration," Andoris said. "Both we-and she-will probably never know who she gave them to." "Making this the perfect crime," Wentar groaned. He's right, you know. We may never solve this one. We must.
"The extent of the memory loss is what I find significant," Andoris continued, ignoring the homunculus's fretting. "Blamira didn't just erase her memories of the crime itself, she erased an entire day's memories. She has no recollection of the creation of the shadow double or of the exact moment she made the spell effect permanent." "But why?" Wentar asked.
"There's only one logical reason," Andoris answered. "Blamira wanted to raise the question of whether the shadow double was free willed from the moment it was created. If she'd conjured up a normal shadow double, it would have faded into nonexistence long ago-taking with it her clever alibi."
"So she is guilty," Wentar exclaimed, an excited gleam in his eye.
Is she? Then she must pay for her crime, even if she is Shadow's disciple. No favoritism-isn't that what we say? the homunculus asked bitterly. Not even for our own-
"Not necessarily," Andoris countered. "There's a possibility you're overlooking. The shadow double has all of Blamira's magical capabilities-and her cunning. There is a possibility that it got the better of her-that it really did act of its own accord to steal the research notes. The shadow double could have been the one who cast the forgetfulness spell on Blamira-and on itself-to ensure its own alibi."
Wentar*s shoulders sagged. "So we're back where we started," he groaned.
Back in his bedchamber, the homunculus was pacing, its clawed toes clicking against the hardwood floor, but Andoris remained calm, in complete self-control. He knew that logic wouldn't fail him-it never had.
Wentar drained his glass, then released it and snapped his fingers, teleporting it away.
"I'm glad you're judging this one, Andoris. This case just gets more and more confusing the more I try to decipher it. We may just as well be trying to read one of the Nether Scrolls with Ptack's half-completed spell notes."
The homunculus halted abruptly, atremble with excitement.
That's it! How could we have been so stupid? If Blamira was helping Ptack reverse his secret script spell, he must have taught her how to cast it.
Andoris, however, merely turned to his fellow judge, and said, in a quiet voice, "Did the constabulary search Blamira's laboratory when they arrested her?"
"They did, and I supervised," Wentar said. Then he added, "I can see where you're going with this one. You think we overlooked some innocent looking scroll that might really have been Ptack's notes, but I know he protected those notes. They could have looked like anything, from an accountant's ledger to a page of poetry. That's why I insisted he be present during the search. Ptack spoke the word that negated his secret script spell and looked over the books, scrolls, and pages himself, but though some of the written materials on Blamira's desk had been disguised with a secret script spell, Ptack's research notes weren't among them."
"There may still have been clues to be found," Andoris mused.
"What do you mean?"
"I think a second search of Blamira's laboratory is in order."
* * * * *
The Shadow Consortium was noted for its gloom-filled corridors and tiny, claustrophobic rooms. Blamira's