Night Lamp

by Jack Vance

  Barwang leaned close to Asrubal and spoke urgently. Asrubal’s thin mouth sagged. He said, “I am advised that candor is my only option.”

  “Excellent advice.”

  Asrubal raised his eyes and stared thoughtfully at the ceiling. “I have on hand, here at Romarth, about two thousand sols. At Lorquin Agency I maintain a fund of about five thousand sols, for emergency expenses. At the Natural Bank of Loorie, I keep my basic balance, like all the others of Romarth. It amounts, so I suppose, to perhaps twenty or thirty thousand sols.”

  “Is that all?” asked the Magister.

  “I may have some small accounts elsewhere of more or less negligible value.”

  “Just so. Which are the ‘more negligible’ and which are the ‘less negligible’? Please explain in detail.”

  Asrubal made a gesture which was almost coy. “I can’t remember the exact amounts. I am not a mercenary man.”

  “You have a list of these holdings?”

  “Yes, I should think so.”

  “Where is this list?”

  “It is in the security box in my private study.”

  The Magister addressed the Regulators. “Take Asrubal to his study, allow him to open his security box, then draw him aside. Bring the contents of the box here, at once. No, Barwang of Urd; you will remain here.”

  The Regulators pulled Asrubal to his feet. “Come.”

  A few moments later the Regulators returned with the contents of Asrubal’s security box. The Adjudicators studied them for several minutes. Then they looked at Asrubal in something like awe. Asrubal’s pinched white face remained expressionless.

  The Magister said, “This is all very interesting. Your financial irregularities take on a new dimension. There are five accounts, in as many banks. These ‘more or less negligible’ funds appear to total over a million sols. The Lorquin Agency has been amazingly profitable.”

  “That is not all Lorquin money,” Asrubal stated. “I made some fortunate investments.”

  “What were you planning to do with all this money?”

  “I have not made firm plans.”

  The Magister chuckled. “Whatever they were, you might as well dismiss them. The money is confiscated. Further, you will no longer manage the Lorquin Agency. There will be other penalties, as well, depending upon the outcome of the more serious charges against you: to wit, that you attempted the murder of Tawn Maihac, that you murdered the child of Tawn and Jamiel Maihac, and the murder of Jamiel Maihac herself. How do you respond to these charges?”

  “They are bold, reckless and nuncupatory nonsense. I have murdered no one.”

  The Magister said, “Asrubal, your response is so noted. And now,” he looked to Justiciar Morlock, “you may present your case.”

  Morlock came forward. He gestured toward Maihac. “There sits Tawn Maihac, an off-world trader. Twenty years ago he came to Romarth, hoping to bypass Lorquin Agency and trade directly with the Roum, through a system that would facilitate trade and produce wealth for everyone concerned, not just Asrubal. Urd House naturally resisted his proposals, since it would end Asrubal’s monopoly.

  “After two years of litigation, Maihac secured permission to bring a cargo of tools here, to be sold to the civic bursar, and for distribution to the Seishanee. Maihac’s price was a third of that quoted by Lorquin Agency. Asrubal was outraged by the program. To protect his interests he plotted a dastardly deed. When Maihac and Jamiel with their two children, Garlet and Jaro, tried to leave Romarth aboard a flitter, Asrubal brought a gang of Urd cavaliers masked as Assassinators. These persons have been identified and will testify, if need be.

  “Responding to Asrubal’s orders, this cowardly gang attacked Maihac’s flitter and attempted to seize Jamiel and her children. After a struggle, Maihac and Jamiel escaped, only to find that one of their children, Garlet, had been snatched from the flitter. As they watched in horror, Asrubal dashed the child to its death upon the rocks, after which he threw the corpse into the river.

  “Maihac was horrified, but he had no other choice than to take Jamiel and Jaro to Flad, where they intended to take passage aboard the Liliom to Loorie. Asrubal forestalled him. He sent a radio message to Arsloe, the machinist at Flad, who arranged that a group of Loklor should attack Maihac and his family upon their arrival. The Loklor captured Maihac; Jamiel and Jaro escaped.

  “Maihac survived for three years, and finally was left for dead after fighting a houseghoul.

  “During this time Asrubal tracked Jamiel to Point Extase on Camberwell, and there killed her. Jaro was six years old at the time. He remembers the coming of Asrubal to their residence on the outskirts of Point Extase. At his mother’s command, he ran to the river and escaped in a boat.

  “To sum up: Asrubal is guilty of two murders and the attempted murder of Maihac.

  “Now then: how do I prove these assertions? I need only prove a single murder in order to secure the verdict of ‘Guilty’; luckily, this is simple and straightforward. Maihac, six Urd cavaliers and a pair of Ratigo women directly witnessed the murder of the child Garlet. Their testimony will prove my case. As for the other two crimes, the evidence is circumstantial and indirect. Arsloe, the technician who arranged Maihac’s capture by the Loklor, departed Flad many years ago, and his whereabouts is unknown. Nevertheless, Asrubal’s guilt is a certainty. As to the murder of Jamiel, the evidence is real. Jaro saw him approach the house at Point Extase and look through the window. On this point his memory is absolutely clear. Later, Jamiel was discovered dead, her head battered to fragments. Asrubal ransacked the house, searching for the incriminating ledgers which Jamiel had obtained from Aubert Yamb at Loorie. Asrubal was also anxious to recover a bank draught of three hundred thousand sols which had been in Jamiel’s possession. He found nothing and decided that the documents must be in the possession of Jaro. Asrubal notified Terman of Urd that Jamiel was dead and that Jaro was missing. Asrubal could not know of these facts unless he had been in intimate proximity to the murder. He ordered Terman to locate Jaro, and Terman finally traced the missing boy to Thanet on Gallingale.

  “That, gentlemen, is my case. I ask a verdict against Asrubal immediately and without further delay.” Morlock returned to his place.

  The Adjudicators conferred for a moment in low tones; then all turned to inspect Asrubal, who sat leaning back in the massive chair, his expression sardonic and imperturbable.

  Barwang strolled forward. “Morlock’s arguments are nuncupatory. I will now demolish his case.”

  The Magister said testily, “Not so fast, Barwang of Urd! Asrubal sits yonder; let him do his own talking.”

  Barwang’s face fell. “As you wish, sir.” He hunched, discomfited, back to his seat.

  The Magister spoke to Asrubal: “Sir, you have heard Morlock’s cogent accusation. What is your response?”

  Asrubal smiled thinly. “You have stripped me of my property but you shall not so easily snatch away my life. The charges are false. I have done no murdering. Bring on your witnesses, by the tens and the hundreds, and, if need be, by the thousands. The sum of one million zeros never exceeds zero. Guilt can never be proved when there is none to prove.”

  “All very well,” said the Magister. “How do you account for the circumstances? Remember: even a dead child is considered a corpse.”

  “Bah! It is all a mistake. When the off-worlder thought to leave Romarth on the sly, I went with some friends to dissuade him. We intended a peaceful demonstration, but some mad women wearing Ratigo masks interfered, and tried to take the two children.”

  “Why should they do this?”

  Asrubal smiled. “Who can know the mind of a Ratigo woman? Their creed is something called ‘The Doctrine of Improbability.’ It was a random act.”

  The Magister studied Asrubal, then asked abruptly, “If the act were random, why did they bring a pair of dummies to the scene?”

  Asrubal’s smile was as bland as before. “I am a logical man. The Ratigo doctrines are beyond my underst
anding.”

  “So that their appearance came as a startling surprise?”

  “Of course.”

  “I see. Proceed with your account, if you will.”

  “There is little to tell. While Maihac and Jamiel were watching my little demonstration, the women took one of the children and left a dummy in its place, then attempted to seize the other. After a short struggle, Jamiel retrieved the second child, whereupon Maihac took the flitter into the air and the two departed, evidently assured that they carried both children.

  “I saw the doing of the deed, and thought to recall the fugitives, so that they might retrieve their child. To attract Maihac’s attention, I threw the second dummy high into the air; the child was of course safe and taken to a place of security, perhaps by the mad women. That was the end of it. Call your witnesses; they will corroborate my statement. The off-worlder continued to Flad, where the Loklor captured him. My complicity is pure speculation and can not be proved. Only Arsloe could supply valid testimony and he is ten years gone from Fader. It is slander to voice such charges when not an ounce of evidence can be provided!”

  “The point is well taken,” the Magister admitted. “Let us go on to other phases of the case.”

  Asrubal made a rather condescending gesture. “As for the murder of Jamiel of Ramy, again I must refute a tissue of lies. It is not right that so much scurrility and inconvenience should be visited upon me.”

  “Do not complain!” said the Magister. “The Panel allows you opportunity for rebuttal. In less wholesome communities, you would probably be hanged out of hand.”

  Asrubal made a contemptuous sound, then said, “I will take very little of the Panel’s time. I traced Jamiel of Ramy to Camberwell in order to recover stolen documents. She resided in a small house on the outskirts of Point Extase. I went to this place, intending to ask for the purloined documents, which could be used to embarrass me. I intended to offer her a generous sum for their return. I went in company with Edel of Urd, a person of unassailable honor and rashudo. Together we arrived at the house of Jamiel. The time was sunset. Edel went to inspect the premises at the back of the house, while I waited at the fence. I saw the boy staring at me through the front window, so I knew Jamiel was at home. When Edel returned, we approached the house. I looked through the window. Again I saw the boy. Then I moved away and went to join Edel at the side of the house. We conferred for several moments, then we entered the house, to find that grisly deeds had been done. On the floor lay Jamiel, her head shattered. The boy was gone. I sent Edel to find the boy while I started to look for the ledgers. I found nothing. Edel returned and reported that the boy had apparently gone off in a boat. We went to look for him, but evening had come and we could see nothing distinctly. I concluded that the boy had taken the ledgers and the bank draught. Who had killed Jamiel? We had no clue then, nor do we now.”

  Barwang strode forward to address the Panel. “Your Honors, Edel of Urd sits yonder. As you must know, he is a respected gentleman of high rashudo; I call upon him now to testify as to his recollection of this terrible event.”

  Barwang signaled, and a middle-aged gentleman came forward. Barwang welcomed him with a slight bow. “Edel, you have heard the testimony of Asrubal. Can you inform the panel as to the truth or falsity of Asrubal’s statement?”

  Edel addressed the panel in a forthright manner. “Asrubal spoke the truth, in every detail.”

  “Did Asrubal kill Jamiel of Ramy?”

  “That would have been impossible. He did not kill Jamiel, nor did I.”

  “Who, then, in your opinion performed the deed?”

  Edel shrugged. “The culprit might have been a river bandit, or a thwarted lover, or perhaps a roving madman. The only witness would have been the boy, and he was gone.”

  “Thank you, Edel. That is all.” Edel went back to his seat.

  Asrubal continued his statement. “As I mentioned, Terman learned that the boy had been rescued by a pair of anthropologists and taken to Thanet on Gallingale.

  “I was still anxious to recover the stolen ledgers. I sent Terman to Thanet where he made a careful investigation. He searched the house where the boy lived, but found nothing. While he was making his inquiries, Terman learned that the boy lacked all memory of the years prior to his arrival at Thanet. His classmates considered him timid and somewhat retarded, and used the word ‘nimp’ to describe him. Almost certainly he knew nothing of the missing ledgers. I abandoned interest in the boy, and never troubled him in any way. As I stated, I am not the murderer of Jamiel, nor of anyone else.”

  Again Barwang came forward. “It is now clear that the case against Asrubal is a mare’s nest. Morlock’s charges are no more than flatulence, of a particularly purulent sort. The panel must now dismiss these charges, since none can be proved, and we will expect Morlock to render a polite but explicit apology.”

  The Magister seemed to be amused. He said, “I am the Chief Adjudicator; I am the conscience of Romarth. I perceive that evil deeds have been done; that, either by luck or by adroit design, the criminal has slid away from the consequences.”

  Barwang sprang to his feet. “Slander!” he cried out. “Most dreadful and injurious slander!”

  The Magister regarded him impassively, then said, “Barwang, be so good as to control your outrage. Asrubal has little reputation left to protect.

  “The statute against slander,” the Magister continued, “does not prevent me from noting that Arsloe, the single witness to the crimes against Maihac, is missing. I find it wonderful that a reputable gentleman should testify to the innocence of Asrubal at the murdering of Jamiel, when all of us, including Barwang, intuitively recognize Asrubal’s agency, either direct or indirect. In the case of the child Garlet, Asrubal regales us with such far-fetched claptrap that even Barwang must be taken aback. Asrubal tells us that in order to persuade Maihac to remain at Romarth, he arrives on the scene with six masked Assassinators, and two mad women. Instead of singing and dancing the dance of joy, they attacked Maihac and set about kicking his head, while the mad women stole his child. When Maihac escaped in the flitter, Asrubal thought to induce his return by throwing his child high into the air, then flinging its corpse into the river. Maihac did not know it was a dummy. To protect Jamiel and his other child, he flew on to Flad, where Arsloe, responding to Asrubal’s order by radio, betrayed him to the Loklor, and where Asrubal was sure Maihac would dance with the girls and die.

  “Asrubal was wrong, Maihac survived, and it appears that Asrubal was too clever for his own good. A question is weighing on us all, and now Asrubal must answer. He straddles the horns of a terrible dilemma: no matter how he responds, he cannot avoid a serious consequence. If the child Garlet is dead, he is a murderer. If Garlet is alive, he is a kidnapper. I will now put the question.” The Magister turned to face Asrubal. “Hear this question and answer! Where is the child Garlet?”

  Asrubal sat staring into space, as if preoccupied with private thoughts. The Magister leaned forward. “Asrubal, you have heard the question. Where is the child Garlet?”

  Asrubal fixed his round black eyes upon him, then spoke in a soft voice, “I don’t know.”

  “That is not a satisfactory answer,” said the Magister. “The child was in your custody. How did you dispose of him?”

  Asrubal shrugged. “At the time, and I freely admit this now, I was in a bad temper. I transferred the infant to my major-domo Ooscah, with brusque orders: I told him to take the infant from my sight, to keep it secure, until its parents came to claim it. In the meantime I did not want to be bothered with it, in any way, since the problem was not mine. Ooscah took the child off and the parents never returned; that is all I know.”

  In a gentle voice the Magister asked, “Surely the whereabouts of Garlet is known to you?”

  Asrubal sat erect, his white face pinched. “After Ooscah took the child, I put the incident from my mind; it was not important, and I have not thought of it since. The child may be alive or it may be
dead. Ooscah, obedient to my orders, has issued no reports. If the child cannot be found, I disclaim responsibility, since I ordered that it should be kept in secure and wholesome conditions.”

  “In that event, we must question Ooscah. Summon him here, at once.”

  Asrubal sat thinking for a moment, then slowly rose to his feet and departed the hall. At a signal from the Magister, a pair of Regulators followed. Jaro, sitting near the door, looked up into Asrubal’s emotionless face as he stalked past and out into the entrance hall. Jaro rose to his feet and followed, as unobtrusively as possible. He passed through the door and halted beside a tall screen, carved intricately of honey-colored wood. Behind the screen were shadows; Jaro moved to where he could see but could not be seen.

  The entry hall was much like that of Carleone, high-ceilinged, with a broad flight of stairs leading up to a balustraded gallery. Across the room a passage opened into an informal parlor; at a desk to the side of the passage sat a grichkin wearing black and white livery, a smart conical black hat, with a narrow brim, and black boots with curled toes. He was hunched and portly, with the wizened skin and compressed features of mature years; his function would be that of under-seneschal, with a status only slightly inferior to that of the major-domo. Asrubal imperiously waved the Regulators to stand back, and approached the grichkin’s desk, with the Regulators watching from a distance. Asrubal bent forward and gave the grichkin terse instructions. The grichkin asked a dubious question. Asrubal spoke again, rapping his knuckles on the desk for emphasis. The grichkin bowed his head submissively. Jaro wondered why such forceful instructions were needed simply to summon the major-domo Ooscah. It was a curious proceeding, thought Jaro. He watched with growing curiosity.

  Asrubal, finally satisfied that his requirements had been made clear, straightened and looked around. Jaro moved farther back into the shadows. Asrubal’s attention, however, was fixed upon the Regulators. He seemed to be weighing his chances of escape.