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A Lick Of Frost :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 26 из 184It made me nervous.
"You can ask it," Biggs said, "but I'll decide if they answer it."
Veducci gave a nod, and pushed away from the wall where he'd been leaning. He smiled at us all. Only a hardness to his eyes let me know that the smile was a lie. "Sergeant Rhys, were you in the lands of faerie on the date that Lady Caitrin accuses you of attacking her?"
"Of allegedly attacking her," Biggs said.
Veducci nodded at him. "Were you in the lands of faerie on the date that Lady Caitrin alleges this attack took place?"
It was nicely worded. Worded so that it was hard to dance around the truth without actually lying.
Rhys smiled at him, and I got a glimpse of that less serious side he'd shown me most of my life. "I was in the lands of Faerie when the alleged attack took place."
Veducci asked the same question of Galen. Galen looked more uncomfortable than Rhys had, but he answered, "Yes, I was."
Abeloec's answer was simply "Yes."
Farmer whispered to Biggs, and asked the next round of questions. "Sergeant Rhys, were you here in Los Angeles on the date of the alleged attack?"
The question proved that our lawyers still didn't quite understand the quandary of time in faerie.
"No, I was not."
Biggs frowned. "But you were, all day. We have many witnesses."
Rhys smiled at him. "But the day in Los Angeles was not the identical day as the day that Lady Caitrin accused us of this alleged attack."
"It is the same date," Biggs insisted.
"Yes," Rhys said patiently, "but just because it's the same date doesn't mean it's the same day."
Veducci was the only one smiling. Everyone else looked like they were thinking too hard, or were wondering if Rhys was crazy.
"Can you clarify that?" Veducci asked, still looking pleased.
"This isn't like a science-fiction story, where we have traveled back in time to redo the same day," Rhys said. "We aren't truly in two places at once. For us, Mr. Veducci, this day is truly a new day. Our doppelgängers are not in faerie reliving this day. That day in faerie is past. This day here in Los Angeles is a new day. It happens to have the same date, so outside of faerie it appears to be the same day, repeated."
"So you could have been in faerie on the day she was attacked?" Veducci asked.
Rhys smiled at him, almost tsking. "On the day she was allegedly attacked, yes."
"This will be a nightmare for a jury," Nelson said.
"Wait until we get done demanding a jury of their peers," Farmer said, smiling almost happily.
"You can ask it," Biggs said, "but I'll decide if they answer it."
Veducci gave a nod, and pushed away from the wall where he'd been leaning. He smiled at us all. Only a hardness to his eyes let me know that the smile was a lie. "Sergeant Rhys, were you in the lands of faerie on the date that Lady Caitrin accuses you of attacking her?"
"Of allegedly attacking her," Biggs said.
Veducci nodded at him. "Were you in the lands of faerie on the date that Lady Caitrin alleges this attack took place?"
It was nicely worded. Worded so that it was hard to dance around the truth without actually lying.
Rhys smiled at him, and I got a glimpse of that less serious side he'd shown me most of my life. "I was in the lands of Faerie when the alleged attack took place."
Veducci asked the same question of Galen. Galen looked more uncomfortable than Rhys had, but he answered, "Yes, I was."
Abeloec's answer was simply "Yes."
Farmer whispered to Biggs, and asked the next round of questions. "Sergeant Rhys, were you here in Los Angeles on the date of the alleged attack?"
The question proved that our lawyers still didn't quite understand the quandary of time in faerie.
"No, I was not."
Biggs frowned. "But you were, all day. We have many witnesses."
Rhys smiled at him. "But the day in Los Angeles was not the identical day as the day that Lady Caitrin accused us of this alleged attack."
"It is the same date," Biggs insisted.
"Yes," Rhys said patiently, "but just because it's the same date doesn't mean it's the same day."
Veducci was the only one smiling. Everyone else looked like they were thinking too hard, or were wondering if Rhys was crazy.
"Can you clarify that?" Veducci asked, still looking pleased.
"This isn't like a science-fiction story, where we have traveled back in time to redo the same day," Rhys said. "We aren't truly in two places at once. For us, Mr. Veducci, this day is truly a new day. Our doppelgängers are not in faerie reliving this day. That day in faerie is past. This day here in Los Angeles is a new day. It happens to have the same date, so outside of faerie it appears to be the same day, repeated."
"So you could have been in faerie on the day she was attacked?" Veducci asked.
Rhys smiled at him, almost tsking. "On the day she was allegedly attacked, yes."
"This will be a nightmare for a jury," Nelson said.
"Wait until we get done demanding a jury of their peers," Farmer said, smiling almost happily.