Spell of Catastrophe | Page 6

know of any disgruntled employees. The list of business
enemies was short; she said her husband had a reputation as a straight
dealer. They had no children.
"Who gets everything if he dies?" I said.
"Why, I'm not sure. I really don't know."
I had yelled down for a messenger earlier, after the scent of work had
floated in with her, and the messenger now returned with Turbot.
Turbot was in more-or-less the same line of work as me, whatever that
was, and we used each other as backup man when things were
happening. He was glad to have something to do that might pay, at
least as glad as me. As the wife was leaving in Turbot's custody she
paused and looked back.
"Will you find him?" she repeated.
"Yeah, I'll find him," I said. I strapped on my sword and headed for the
man's warehouse.
SKARGOOL CARGO WAS A HULKING TWO-STORY BUILDING
with heavy timber walls attached to its own wharf. The manager was a

hulking man named Kardu Chog. He wasn't attached to a wharf, but
one finger was brandishing a ring with a stone the size of a rowboat.
"Me, I was first mate on the first barge Skargool ever sailed," Chog
said expansively around a cylinder that looked like a cigar but smelled
a lot more like a swamp after a range fire. Tobacco leaves were one of
the things Skargool imported, shipped up the river from the south.
"First mate, aye, and crew too. The two of us, like brothers." He waved
at the humidor on his desk, offered me a cigar. I shook my head. He
shrugged and took a massive pull on his own, a line of solid ash
advancing toward his mouth. "Skargool and me, we go way back."
"What about his wife?" I said.
"What do you mean," he said slowly, "about his wife?"
"His wife. How long does she go back?"
Chog leaned back in his chair and squinted up through the smoke.
"Mind you now, I don't really know her, but she's been around now for,
oh, five years, six. Why are you interested?"
"Just asking questions," I said. "Part of the job." I poked around,
checking in with the workmen.
From all accounts, Edrik Skargool was indeed that rare thing, a rich
boss well liked by his employees. Another relevant fact also came to
light: Skargool walked home daily, along the same route.
I left the warehouse, crossed the street, and entered the dive on the
other side; step out on any street around the wharves and there was
bound to be a bar within arm's reach. When my drink came I laid an ool
next to it. "The Skargool place," I said.
"Yeah?" said the bartender.
"Anybody seem interested in it?" I spun another ool in the air.
The bartender licked his lip and thought, then shook his head sadly,

eying the ool on the counter. I pushed it toward him. "Let me know," I
said, and told him how to find me.
I worked my way along. From the feel of the kidnap note this thing had
been a job worked out in advance, not a bit of random work popped on
the spur of the moment. The Creeping Sword, whoever or whatever he
was or they were, would have hung around getting a handle on
Skargool's movements, and might even still be keeping an eye on
things. Maybe somebody had noticed something. It wasn't a real good
bet - the waterfront was always filled with transients, and with the
number of out-of-town fighters bolstering the Guard things were bound
to be worse, but maybe one of the regulars had an eye open. If nothing
else, the Creeping Sword might hear I was asking questions and go
after me. Coming out of the fourth bar I felt a bump and tug at my side.
Attached to the touch was an arm. I grabbed it as the kid tried to twist
away. He was somebody I knew.
"How's business, Glinko?" I said.
Glinko looked around at me and turned white. "It's you," he said.
I shook him up and down a few times. "Yeah, Glinko, it's me," I said.
"You're losing your touch. You're also turning into an idiot."
"I didn't know it was you," he said plaintively.
"Save it. Just as well you're here. Maybe you can do something for
me."
A look of calculation appeared. I shook him again, then opened my
hand and dropped him. The street was muddy. The streets were always
muddy. "You didn't have to do that," he said.
"You didn't have to try to pick my purse, either. Fortunately for you, I
generally take the long view." I showed him an ool out of Skargool's
wife's advance.
Glinko stopped trying to