Speaks the Nightbird mc-1

by Robert R. McCammon

  "Yes, I do. A hogsfat-based liniment."

  "Does this liniment have an objectionable odor?"

  "Well... it's not pleasant, but it can be endured."

  "What if the hogsfat is allowed to sit over heat, and become rancid before application? Mr. Winston, the magistrate mentioned to me that you were repelled by the odor. Is that correct?"

  "Yes. Very quickly repelled, as I recall."

  "That was a safeguard, you see. To prevent anyone from either looking too closely at the false knee, or—heaven forbid— touching it. Isn't that true, Mr. Johnstone?"

  Johnstone stared at the floor. He rubbed the bulge of his knee, a pulse beating at his temple.

  "I'm sure that's not very comfortable. Is it intended to force a limp? You probably really can't climb stairs with it on, can you? Therefore you removed it to go up and look at the gold coin? Did you mean to steal that coin, or were you simply surprised at being caught in the act? Did your greedy hand clutch it in what was for you a normal reaction?"

  "Wait, " the doctor said. He was struggling to keep up, his own brain blasted by the rigors of his confession. "You mean to say... Alan was never educated at Oxford? But I myself heard him trading tales of Oxford with the magistrate! He seemed to know the place so well!"

  "Seemed to is right, sir. I expect he must have played a schoolmaster's role in some play and picked up a modicum of information. He also knew that by passing himself off as having an Oxford education, the town would more readily dismiss the efforts of the man who served as the previous teacher."

  "But what about Margaret? Johnstone's wife?" Winston asked. "I know her bell seemed cracked, but... wouldn't she have known if he wasn't really a schoolmaster?"

  "He had a wife?" This was the first Matthew had heard of it. "Was he wed in Fount Royal, or did he bring her with him when he arrived?"

  "He brought her, " Winston said. "And she seemed to despise Fount Royal and all of us from the beginning. So much so that he was obliged to return her to her family in England." He shot Johnstone a dark glance. "At least that's what he told us."

  "Ah, now you're beginning to understand that what he told you was never necessarily the truth—and rarely so. Mr. Johnstone, what about this woman? Who was she?"

  Johnstone continued to stare at the floor.

  "Whoever she was, I doubt she was really wed to you. But it was a clever artifice, gentlemen, and further disguised himself as a decent schoolmaster." Matthew suddenly had a thought, a flashing sun of revelation, and he smiled slightly as he regarded the fox. "So: you returned this woman to her family in England, is that correct?"

  Of course there was no answer.

  "Mr. Bidwell, how long was it after Johnstone came back from England that the ratcatcher arrived here?"

  "It was... I don't know... a month, possibly. Three weeks. I can't recall."

  "Less than three weeks, " Winston said. "I remember the day Linch arrived and offered his services. We were so glad to see him, as the rats were overrunning us."

  "Mr. Johnstone?" Matthew prompted. "Had you, as a thes-pian, ever seen John Lancaster—and that was his true name— performing his act? Had you heard about his magnetism abilities while your troupe was travelling England? Perhaps you'd already met him?" Johnstone only stared blankly at the floorboards. "In any case, " Matthew continued with authority, "you didn't go to England to return that so-called wife to her family. You went to England to seek a man you thought could help carry out your scheme. You knew what it would take. By then you had probably decided who the victims were going to be—even though I think your murder of Reverend Grove had more to do with hiding your falsehood than anything else—and you needed a man with the uncommon ability to create perceived truth from wholesale illusion. And you found him, didn't you?"

  "Mad." Johnstone's voice was husky and wounded. "Mad... goddamned mad..."

  "Then you convinced him to join your mission, " Matthew went on. "I presume you had a trinket or two to show him as proof? Did you give him the brooch? Was that one of the things you'd found during those nights you posed as a surveyor? As you declined Mr. Bidwell's offer of a bed and pitched your tent right there beside the spring, you could go swimming without being discovered. What else did you find down there?"

  "I'm not..." Johnstone struggled to stand. "I'm not staying to hear this madman's slander!"

  "Look how he remains in character!" Matthew said. "I should have known you were an actor the first night we met! I should have realized from that face powder you wore, as you wore it the night of the maskers' dinner, that an actor never feels truly comfortable before a new audience without the benefit of makeup."

  "I'm leaving!" Johnstone had gained his feet. He turned his sallow, sweating face toward the door.

  "Alan? I know all about John Lancaster." Johnstone had been about to hobble out; now he froze again, at the sound of Bidwell's quiet, powerful voice.

  "I know all about his abilities, though I don't understand such things. I do understand, however, from where Lancaster took his concept of the three demons. They were freaks he'd seen, at that circus which employed David Smythe's father."

  Johnstone stood motionless, staring at the door, his back to Matthew. Perhaps the fox trembled, at this recognition of being torn asunder by the hounds.

  "You see, Alan, " Bidwell went on, "I opened a letter that Matthew had left for the magistrate. I read that letter... and I began to wonder why such a demon-possessed boy would fear for my safety. My safety, after all the insults and taunts I hurled at him. I began to wonder... if I had not best take Mr. Winston and go to Charles Town to find the Red Bull Players. They were camped just to the south. I found Mr. Smythe, and asked him the questions that were directed in that letter."

  Johnstone had not moved, and still did not.

  "Sit down, " Bidwell commanded. "Whatever your name is, you bastard."

  forty-two

  MATTHEW AND THE OTHERS now witnessed a transformation.

  Instead of being cowed by this command, instead of slumping under the iron fist of truth, Alan Johnstone slowly straightened his spine. In seconds he seemed an inch or two taller. His shoulders appeared to widen against the fabric of his dark blue jacket, as if the man had been tightly compressing himself around his secret core.

  When he turned toward Matthew again, it was with an unhurried grace. Johnstone was smiling, but the truth had delivered its blow; his face was damp, his eyes deep-sunken and shock-blasted.

  "Sirs, " he said, "dear sirs. I must confess... I never attended Oxford. Oh, this is embarrassing. Quite so. I attended a small school in Wales. I was... the son of a miner, and I realized at an early age... that some doors would be closed to my ascent, if I did not attempt to hide some... um... unfortunate and unsavory elements of my family. Therefore, I created—"

  "A lie, just as you're creating now, " Matthew interrupted. "Are you incapable of telling the truth?"

  Johnstone's mouth, which was open to speak the next falsehood, slowly closed. His smile had vanished, his face as grim as gray stone.

  "I think he's lived with lies so long they're like a suit, without which he would feel nude to the world, " Matthew said. "You did learn a great deal about Oxford, though, didn't you? Did you actually go there and tour the place when you returned to England, just in case you needed the information? It never hurts to add details to your script, does it? And all that about your social club!" Matthew shook his head and clucked his tongue. "Are the Ruskins even really in existence, or is that your own true name? You know, I might have realized I had proof of your lies that very night. When the magistrate recited the motto of his own social club to you, he spoke it in Latin, believing that as a fellow Oxford brother you would need no translation. But when you recited back the motto of the Ruskins, you spoke English. Have you ever known the motto of a social fraternity to be in English? Tell me, did you make that motto up on the spot?"

  Johnstone began to laugh. The laughter, however, was strained through his tightly clen
ched teeth, and therefore was less merry than murderous.

  "This woman who was purported to be your wife, " Matthew said. "Who was she? Some insane wretch from Charles Town? No, no, you would have had to find someone you at least imagined you could control. Was she then a doxy, to whom you could promise future wealth for her cooperation?"

  The laughter faded and went away, but Johnstone continued to grin. His face, the flesh drawn over the bones and the eyeholes dwindled to burns, had taken on the appearance of a truly demonic mask.

  "I presume you made quick work of the woman, as soon as you'd left sight of Charles Town, " Matthew ventured. "Did she believe you were returning her to the dove roost?"

  Johnstone suddenly turned and began to limp toward the door, proving that his kneebrace enforced the fiction of his deformity.

  "Mr. Green?" Matthew called, in a casual tone. The doorway was presently blocked by the red-bearded giant, who also held at his side a pistol. "That weapon has been prepared for firing, sir, " Matthew said. "I don't for an instant doubt your ability to inflict deadly violence, therefore the necessary precaution against it. Would you please come back to your chair?"

  Johnstone didn't respond. Green said, "I 'spect you'd best do as Mr. Corbett asks." The air had whistled through the space a front tooth used to occupy.

  "Very well, then!" Johnstone turned toward his tormentor with a theatrical flourish, the death's-head grin at full force. "I shall be glad to sit down and listen to these mad ravings, as I find myself currently imprisoned! You know, you're all bewitched! Every one of you!" He stalked back to the chairs, taking a position not unlike center stage. "God help our minds, to withstand such demonic power! Don't you see it?" He pointed at Matthew, who was gratified to see that the hand trembled. "This boy is in league with the blackest evil to ever crawl from a pit! God help us, in its presence!" Now Johnstone held his hand palm-upward, in a gesture of supplication. "I throw myself before your common sense, sirs! Before your decency and love of fellow man! God knows these are the first things any demon would try to destr—"

  Smack! went a book down onto Johnstone's offered palm. Johnstone staggered, and stared at the volume of English plays that Matthew had devoured, and that Mrs. Nettles had returned to the nearby bookcase.

  "Poor Tom Foolery, I believe, " Matthew said. "I think on page one-seventeen or thereabouts is a similar speech, in case you wish to be more exact."

  Something moved across Johnstone's face in that instant, as he met Matthew's gaze. Something vulpine, and mean as sin. It was as if for a fleeting space of time the animal had been dragged from its den and made to show itself; then the instant passed, and the glimpse was gone. Johnstone's countenance had formed again into stone. Disdainfully, he turned his hand over and let the book fall to the floor.

  "Sit down, " Matthew said firmly, as Mr. Green guarded the doorway. Slowly, with as much dignity as he could cloak himself, Johnstone returned to his chair.

  Matthew went to the fanciful map of Fount Royal that hung on the wall behind him. He tapped the spring with his forefinger. "This, gentleman, is the reason for such deception. At some time in the past—several years, I believe, before Mr. Bidwell sent a land scout to find him suitable property—this spring was used as a vault for pirate treasure. I don't mean just Spanish gold and silver coins, either. I mean jewels, silverware, plates... whatever this pirate and his crew managed to take. As the spring was likely used by this individual as a source of fresh water, he decided to employ it for a different purpose. Mr. Johnstone, do you know this individual's name?" No response. "Well, I'm assuming he was English, since he seemed to prefer attacking Spanish merchant ships. Probably he attacked a few Spanish pirates who were themselves laden with treasure. In any case, he built up a wondrous fortune... but of course, he was always in fear of being attacked himself, therefore he needed a secure hiding-place for his loot. Please correct me, Mr. Johnstone, if I am mistaken at any of these conjectures."

  Johnstone might have burned the very air between them with his stare.

  "Oh, I should tell you, sir, " Matthew said, "that the vast majority of the fortune you schemed to possess is now lost. In my investigation of the pond, I found an opening to an underground flow. A small opening but, regretfully for you, an efficient one as to the movement of water. Over a period of time, most of the loot went down the hole. I don't doubt that there are a few items of value remaining—some coins or pieces of pottery—but the vault has been emptied by the one who truly owns it: Mother Nature."

  He saw now a flinch of true pain on Johnstone's face, as this nerve was so deeply struck. "I suspect you found some items when you posed as the surveyor, and those financed your schoolmaster's suits. A wagon and horses, too? And clothes for your cardboard wife? Then I presume you also had items to finance your passage back to and from England, and to be able to show Lancaster what was awaiting him. Did you also show him the blade that was awaiting his throat?"

  "My God!" Dr. Shields said, aghast. "I... always thought Alan came from a wealthy family! I saw a gold ring he owned... with a ruby in it! And a gold pocket watch he had, inscribed with his initials!"

  "Really? I'd say the ring was something he'd found. Perhaps he purchased the pocket watch in Charles Town before he came here, and had those initials inscribed to further advance his false identity." Matthew's eyebrows lifted. "Or was it a watch you had previously murdered someone to get, and those initials prompted your choice of a name?"

  "You, " Johnstone said, his mouth twisting, "are absolutely a fool."

  "I have been called so, sir, but never let it be said that I am fooled. At least not for very long. But you are a smart man, sir. I swear you are. If I were to ask Mr. Green to sit in your lap, and take Mr. Bidwell and Mr. Winston for a thorough search of your house, would we find a sapphire brooch there? A book on ancient Egypt? Would we find the ratcatcher's five-bladed device? You know, that was a crowning move! The claw marks! A deception only a talented thespian could construct! And to create a ratcatcher out of John Lancaster... well, it was an inspiration. Did you know that he had experience with training rats? Had you seen his circus act? You knew Fount Royal was in need of a ratcatcher... therefore, instant acceptance by the town. Was it you or Lancaster who created the poppets? Those, too, were very convincing. Just rough-edged enough to appeal real."

  "I shall... lose my mind, listening to you, " Johnstone said. He blinked slowly. "Lose my mind... altogether."

  "You decided Rachel was perfect witch material. You knew, as everyone knows, what occurred at Salem. But you, with your sterling abilities to manipulate an audience, realized how such mass fear might be scripted, act upon act. The only problem is that you, sir, are a man who has the command of a crowd's mind, yet you needed a man with the command of the individual mind. The point being to seed this terror in Fount Royal by using selected persons, and thus to ruin the town and cause it to be abandoned. After which you—and Lancaster, or so he believed—might remove the riches."

  Johnstone lifted a hand and touched his forehead. He rocked slightly back and forth in his chair.

  "As to the murder of Daniel Howarth, " Matthew said, "I suspect you lured him out of the house that night to a prearranged meeting? Something he would not have mentioned to Rachel? She told me that the night of his murder he asked her if she loved him. She said it was rare for him to be so... well... needful. He already had fears that Nicholas Paine was interested in Rachel. Did you fan those flames, by intimating that Rachel might also have feelings for Paine? Did you promise to meet him in a private place, to exchange information that should not be overheard? Of course he wouldn't have known what you were planning. I'm sure your power of persuasion might have directed Daniel to any place you chose, at any time. Who cut his throat, then? You or Lancaster?"

  When Johnstone didn't answer, Matthew said, "You, I think. I presume you then applied the five-bladed device to Daniel's dead or dying body? I'm sure Lancaster never would have imagined he'd meet his end the same way. He panicked
when he learned he'd been discovered, didn't he? Did he want to leave?" Matthew smiled grimly. "But no, you couldn't have that, could you? You couldn't let him leave, knowing what he knew. Had you always planned to murder him, after he'd helped you remove the treasure and Fount Royal was your own private fortress?"

  "Damn you, " Bidwell said to Johnstone, his face reddening. "Damn your eyes, and heart, and soul. Damn you to a slow death, as you would have made me a murderer too!"

  "Calm yourself, " Matthew advised. "He shall be damned, as I understand the colonial prison is one step above a hellhole and dungheap. Which is where he shall spend some days before he hangs, if I have anything to do with it."

  "That, " Johnstone said wanly, "may be true." Matthew sensed the man was now willing to speak. "But, " Johnstone continued, "I have survived Newgate itself, and so I doubt I shall be much inconvenienced."

  "Ahhhhh!" Matthew nodded. He leaned against the wall opposite the man. "A graduate not of Oxford, but of Newgate prison! How did your attendance in such a school come about?"

  "Debts. Political associations. And friends, " he said, staring at the floor, "with knives. My career was ruined. And I did have a good career. Oh... not that I was ever a major lamp, but I did have aspirations. I hoped... at some point... to have enough money to invest in a theater troupe of my own." He sighed heavily. "My candle was extinguished by jealous colleagues. But was I not... credible in my performance?" He lifted his sweat-slick face to Matthew, and offered a faint smile.

  "You are deserving of applause. From the hangman, at least."

  "I take that as a backhanded compliment. Allow me to deliver one of my own: you have a fair to middling mind. With some work, you might become a thinker."

  "I shall take such into consideration."

  "This beast." Johnstone put his hand on the convexity on his leg. "It does pain me. I am glad, in that regard, to get it off once and for all." He unbuttoned the breeches at the knee, rolled down the stocking, and began to unstrap the leather brace. All present could see that the kneecap was perfectly formed. "You're correct. It was candle wax. I spent a whole night shaping it before I was satisfied with the damn thing. Here: a trophy." He tossed the brace to the floor at Matthew's feet.