kh_. Notice the loop at the top instead of the straight piece
your true cross has. Now, your true cross--if it were properly
energized, blessed, d'ye see--your true cross would tend to dissipate
the evil. The _ankh_ merely vibrates to evil because of the closed
loop at the top, which makes a return circuit. And it's not energized
by blessing, but by another ... um ... spell."

"Master Sean, we have a murder to investigate," said Lord Darcy.

The sorcerer caught the tone of his voice and nodded quickly. "Yes, my
lord." And he walked rollingly away.

"Now where's that secret stairway you mentioned, Sir Pierre?" Lord
Darcy asked.

"This way, your lordship."

He led Lord Dacy to a wall at right angles to the outer wall and slid
back another tapestry.

"Good Heavens," Darcy muttered, "does he have something concealed
behind every arras in the place?" But he didn't say it loud enough for
the Privy Secretary to hear.

* * * * *

This time, what greeted them was a solid-seeming stone wall. But Sir
Pierre pressed in on one small stone, and a section of the wall swung
back, exposing a stairway.

"Oh, yes," Darcy said. "I see what he did. This is the old spiral
stairway that goes round the inside of the Keep. There are two
doorways at the bottom. One opens into the courtyard, the other is a
postern gate through the curtain wall to the outside--but that was
closed up in the sixteenth century, so the only way out is into the
courtyard."

"Your lordship knows Castle D'Evreux, then?" Sir Pierre said. The
knight himself was nearly fifty, while Darcy was only in his thirties,
and Sir Pierre had no recollection of Darcy's having been in the
castle before.

"Only by the plans in the Royal Archives. But I have made it a point
to--" He stopped. "Dear me," he interrupted himself mildly, "what is
that?"

"That" was something that had been hidden by the arras until Sir
Pierre had slid it aside, and was still showing only a part of itself.
It lay on the floor a foot or so from the secret door.

Darcy knelt down and pulled the tapestry back from the object. "Well,
well. A .28 two-shot pocket gun. Gold-chased, beautifully engraved,
mother-of-pearl handle. A regular gem." He picked it up and examined
it closely. "One shot fired."

He stood up and showed it to Sir Pierre. "Ever see it before?"

The Privy Secretary looked at the weapon closely. Then he shook his
head. "Not that I recall, your lords