A Stroke Of Midnight   ::   Гамильтон Лорел

“See, talk like that will make Polaski sit on her evidence. You’ll never get it.”

“But I’m not saying it to her, am I.”

“You think I’d give it to you, if I had it.”

“I think you understand, more than she does, how dangerous things are right now for me and my guards.”

He looked at me for a long moment. “Maybe, but I agree with Polaski on one thing: I wouldn’t want to be the person who gave you just enough evidence to get the wrong person killed. Once someone’s dead, Princess Meredith, there’s no fixing it. No going back. I’d want to be dead certain that I had the right person before anyone got the ax.”

“So would I, Major, and I’ll push to see that we get more proof.”

“You said they’d use the evidence to simply execute.”

“I said they could and probably will, but I, like you, want to be sure. Fairplay and all, but more than that, Major Walters, once someone is executed for the crime the investigation stops. If we execute the wrong person, then the murderer is still free to kill again. I don’t want that.”

“So it’s not about executing the wrong person for you but about letting the guilty go free.”

“A guilty murderer that gets away with it once may try again.”

He nodded. “If they get away with it once, most of them seem to get a taste for it.” He looked at me. “If everyone but you is supposed to be immortal down here, then how did this Beatrice die?”

“That is another problem, isn’t it?”

“Perhaps…” Aisling said.

I didn’t want to look at him. I realized I was angry with him. Angry about what he’d done to Melangell. Angry that he didn’t seem to feel bad about it. His tone of voice had sounded almost as if he had enjoyed it.

Mistral suddenly joined our group. “Excuse me, Princess. Queen Andais longs greatly to speak with you.” His face was utterly neutral as he said it. Too neutral. Something was wrong.

“Princess Meredith, why not appeal directly to this doctor?” Aisling said.

I took in a lot of air and let it out slow, then I turned very deliberately and looked at Aisling. “It’s not a bad idea,” I said, my voice sounding more matter-of-fact than my face felt.

Aisling smiled. I could see just enough of his face through the gauze to know that.

I looked away from him. I tried to make it casual, but I don’t think he, or any of the other men, was fooled.