Universe Twister - Keith Laumer [71]
O'Leary wrenched the ax from the oak door. "You can skip all that 'dear boy' schmaltz," he said coldly. "I'm a little slow to think unkind thoughts about anybody I've shared a drink with, but in your case I managed. Where is she?"
"Where—where is who?"
"Adoranne. And don't bother with the innocence routine either. I know all about you. Your friend Lod spilled the beans just before I killed him."
"You killed Lod?" Nicodaeus' eyebrows shot up toward his receding hairline.
"With this." O'Leary hefted the ax. "And I'm prepared to use it again, if I have to. Now start talking. Where have you got her stashed? Right here in the palace, I suppose. It would be easy enough, with all these passages in the walls."
"You must believe me, Lafayette!" The magician straightened himself. "I know nothing of her Highness' disappearance, no more than any other—"
O'Leary advanced. "Don't stall; I have no time to waste. Talk fast, or I'll hack you into stew-sized chunks and find her myself. I know the back routes pretty well."
"Lafayette, you're making a mistake! I don't know what the rebel, Lod, said of me, but—"
"Never mind what he said. What about the way the cops pounced, five minutes after I came into your inner sanctum here, looking for help, a couple of evenings ago?"
"But—but—I had nothing to do with it! It was a routine search. I didn't have time to summon the guard, even if I'd wanted to. And they couldn't have responded that quickly if I had."
"I guess you have nothing to do with framing me with that silly episode in Adoranne's boudoir, either—to get me out of the way, so you could carry on with your schemes unmolested!"
"Of course not! I was as amazed as you were."
"And I should just disregard what Lod said about your plans."
"Lafayette, I did, I admit, approach Lod on one occasion, but only in an effort to learn certain facts. I offered to, ah, grant him certain compensations if he would tell me all he knew of, well, certain matters . . ." Nicodaeus' face was damp, his eyes bugging slightly as they followed the glint of light on the brown-crusted edge of the ax in O'Leary's hands.
"Uh-huh. Certain compensations—like Adoranne."
"No!" the magician yelped. "Did he say that? In his own crude way, Lod was a man of directness, not guile. Surely he didn't accuse me of such an act!"
"Well . . ." O'Leary went back over the conversation with Lod. "He called you a traitor—and he accused me of being your agent."
"But the other—did he say that I had promised him the person of her Highness?"
"He kept babbling about the plotter in the palace—how you were out to seize the throne, and do away with Adoranne."
"The plotter in the palace?" Nicodaeus frowned. "It wasn't I he was talking about, dear lad. I promise you that. What else did he say?"
"He said you didn't need him any more, so you were welching on your promises."
"Lafayette, I made the giant a promise—this I admit. But it was only that if he would tell me all he knows of—of the matters I spoke of—that I would confirm him in his local power, and see to it that he received a reward in cash—an offer which he promised to consider. But as for thrones, and murder—"
"Get specific, Nicodaeus! What were these certain matters?"
"I'm . . . not at liberty to say."
"All right, play it mysterious then. But if you think I'm going to let you talk your way out of this . . ." O'Leary advanced, bringing the ax up.
"Stop!" Nicodaeus raised both hands. "I'll tell you, Lafayette! But I'm warning you, it's a gross violation of security!"
"Make it good!" O'Leary waited, ax ready.
"I'm a . . . a representative of an organization of vast importance; a secret operative, you might say. I was assigned here to investigate certain irregularities."
"Don't give me that 'certain' routine!"
"Very well; I was sent here by Central. There was the matter of a highly localized Probability Stress. I was sent to clear it up."
"Not very good," O'Leary said, shaking his head. "Not very convincing. Try again."
"Look . . ." Nicodaeus groped inside his flowing robe, brought