Chapter XIII

There was an instant of suffocation, then the giddy feeling again, and Roy Auckland was lying on something. He took a deep breath cautiously. There was air, pure air around him. Then a wave of exhaustion swept over him.

When he opened his eyes again, darkness was complete, but his mind was clear and the paralysis was gone. And now he knew where he was; he was back at headquarters, lying on his own bunk. He sent out a thought of thanks for the rescue, hoping that the Vaec would pick it up.

It was clear enough what had happened: they had teleported him to safety--a short distance when needles were being fired at him, then the longer distance to his own quarters as he sank beneath the quicksand. What of the paralysis? He could only assume that the Vaec were also capable of control over him; a control they had declined to use upon Earthmen except in this one instance. Why?

It was obvious: so that the culprit would see Roy Auckland sink beneath the quicksand and consider him finished. "Thanks," he thought to his potential listeners. "Will you do one more thing? Will you come to headquarters if I find I need your help in trapping the murderer? Just Ekem-ve and Hcent?"

There was no answer, which could mean that he hadn't been heard, or that the Vaec could not transmit their thoughts to him. He looked at his watch. It was nearing 10:00 P.M. according to the adjustments they had made to make the Carolinian day seem roughly equal to that of Earth. He had started back to headquarters around 7:00.

He arose and changed, wishing he had time to take a shower. There was a knock on the door. He opened it to see Shirley Mason. "Oh," she said. "I didn't think you'd come back yet, but Dr. James asked me to see, anyway." She gripped his arm. "Roy, something has happened and we're all stunned. Amelia killed herself."

Her words were a blow to his mental solar plexus. "Amelia...."

He saw now that she looked weary and frightened. There was no suggestion of surprise that he had returned. "They're all sitting around in the rec-room," she said, then added, "No one is blaming you."

"Wait," he whispered as he shut the door behind him. "Did you examine the needle in the box?"

"Yes. It was _dodlig_ mixed with tree gum to make it adhere. You couldn't smell the stuff though, any more than you could when it was in the doctor's soup."

And this, he thought, required a knowledge of chemistry. One had to know how to extract the essence of _dodlig_ from other plants. He looked at Shirley Mason and wondered if anyone else in the expedition knew chemistry. But one more thing was clear; another item on those missing pages of the report. When swallowed, _dodlig_ was quick and painless; when injected or absorbed through a break in the skin, the reaction was like the sting of a virulent insect or the bite of a poisonous serpent. He followed Shirley into the recreation room.

He looked at the assembly, who returned his glance in silence, then turned to Howard James who was slumped in a chair. "I'm sorry," he said. It was a totally inadequate statement, but anything further would have been meaningless. "I've failed all around."

James lifted a hand slightly. "No, Roy," he said tiredly. "You couldn't have prevented it had you been here."

"How did it happen?"

"She wanted to die, Roy," said Burleigh, "though only God knows the full reason why. All we know is that she was determined to end her life. She doped us all so that we couldn't prevent her, or find her in time."

At Auckland's puzzled frown, Edholm said, "We had just finished supper when I suddenly felt terribly sleepy. I tried to get out of my chair, and the next thing I knew Calvin here was shaking me and it was hours later. We'd all been asleep around the table, except Amelia. She wasn't there. She'd gone to her room and taken a lethal dose of sleep-pills. We found the empty bottle and an empty glass on the stand beside her bed."

"We were knocked out for about three hours or so," Shirley put in. "Amelia served the coffee at supper tonight, and she obviously put half a pill into each cup except hers. As you know, drinking them with anything hot makes them react almost immediately. Whether she took her own dose hot or cold I don't know. In either case, she'd have gone to sleep in no less than half an hour and after another hour nothing could be done for her."

"Where is she?"

"We left her where we found her."

Auckland rose. "I'll be back in a few moments," he said. Shirley arose also and followed him out of the room.

* * * * *

It was hard to think of Amelia James as dead, Auckland thought, as he looked at the peaceful features of the dark-haired woman. And harder still to believe that she had killed herself. Somehow, it didn't fit with what he knew of her character. A passionate woman, yearning for life, might conceivably kill herself over rejection by someone she wanted. But Amelia wasn't that sort.

"Did she leave any kind of note?" he asked Shirley.

The blonde shook her head. "And she hadn't been acting strangely, either, Roy."

"You don't think it was suicide, Shirl?"

"I--I...." Suddenly her shoulders were shaking violently and her head was buried against his chest, her arms around him convulsively. "I didn't want her to die! I didn't want anyone to die! I hated them both but I didn't want them to die!"

Auckland held her close, making comforting noises, and found himself looking toward the doorway. "Ekem-ve ..." he started to say, then stopped as he realized no one was there. This was the second time he'd been sure a Vaec was present when none was around. What was it?

His nostrils dilated suddenly and he realized what it was: something he smelled. The faint but somewhat pleasing aroma of the Vaec, like a very discreet perfume.

Perfume! He released Shirley gently and said, "I think I have it," and picked up the glass beside the bed. He sniffed. Yes, it was there. And that had been what he smelled on the needle in the box. It had all fallen into place now. He looked at the girl and said quietly, "We'd better join the others. It's time for the last act in this devilish little drama."

His heart felt icy as they left the room because he realized now that the case he had might be exactly what the culprit wanted him to have.

* * * * *

As they entered the room, Dr. James was saying "... so you see the worst about us, Ekem-ve. Dr. Burleigh here thinks that we are not fit to associate with you and I'm beginning to wonder if he isn't right."

Ekem-ve and Hcent were standing near the door, their single hairs straight up and unmoving. Ekem-ve said, "Excellent Earthmen not perfect. Vaec not perfect either. Like Earthman, Vaec seek help of Creator in following path to perfection. Often fail."

Auckland sent a mental "Thanks for coming" to the Vaec and said, "Much harm has been done by a most imperfect Earth person, and you can help us discover that one so we can see that harm stops."

He did not offer them seats, as the two were playing the part of natives again, who would not sit down in the presence of their superiors.

"Someone," Auckland said, "was surprised when I came into the room tonight. But that someone is a good actor. I'm referring to the person who tried to prevent me from returning at all; the person who first tried to shoot me with a poisoned needle and then lured me into quicksand and left me to sink." He nodded at the Vaec. "Thanks to my friends, I got back safely."

"No mirth in murder, excellent Roy," said Hcent.

"No mirth in finding a murderer either," Auckland said. "One of you will not be surprised, either, when I tell you that Amelia James did not commit suicide." He paused and looked around. Shirley was breathing harder. Edholm blinked rapidly. Burleigh leaned forward, a puzzled but intent look on his face. James sat like one sunk in apathy.

"Ekem-ve," Auckland went on, "did Dr. Glamis obtain a sample of perfume from the Vaec?"

"Yes, excellent Roy. Excellent Kenneth desire it for study. Say that it may bring mirth to many Earth females if can be analyzed, reproduced by Earthmen and brought back to home planet."

"I was puzzled for a long time," Auckland went on, "about the way the _dodlig_ was put into Dr. James's thermos bottle. It suggested that whoever did it must have an excellent knowledge of chemistry. Then I remembered that Phrecle had said something about _dodlig_ losing its pleasing aroma when mixed with the soup.

"It seemed to me then that _dodlig_, which smells so unpleasant to us, must have a pleasing odor to Vaec. I had never smelled it on any of them, but that could be explained by the fact that they knew we disliked it and were careful not to come into our presence bearing the scent.

"But if this were the case, then I should have smelled some _dodlig_ in the village, and I didn't." He smiled wryly. "But minute quantities of the plant, refined, might be used in making a perfume which did indeed have a pleasing aroma. Am I right, Hcent? Is your perfume made with a _dodlig_ base?"

"Excellent Roy speaks wisdom," replied the Vaec.

"So," Auckland continued, "you will all please remain where you are while Hcent searches our rooms for some sort of container of Vaec perfume. Someone obtained Dr. Glamis's sample, or part of it, to commit two murders--there was a trace of perfume in Amelia's glass."

"But I never smelled any perfume," objected Edholm.

"It isn't strong," Auckland said, "and the Vaec are nearly always wearing it. That's why I thought Ekem-ve was around twice when he wasn't; I smelled perfume without realizing it."

"But why would anyone want to kill Amelia?" asked James bewilderedly, as Hcent went out.

"Maybe she discovered something dangerous to the culprit," suggested Burleigh. "Do you think Hcent will be able to find the perfume if it's there?"

"Phrecle smelled a trace of it in the thermos bottle," Auckland answered. "But I don't think it will be concealed. There was no reason to conceal it since the killer was confident that its meaning would not be suspected and could always say that it had been obtained from Glamis, or might even admit snitching some from him."

Hcent came back a moment later, holding a test tube and two sheets of paper which they recognized as the missing pages from the report. Auckland shot a thought at her, then asked, "Where was it, Hcent?"

"In cabinet in kitchen, excellent Roy." She held up the tube. "Much perfume here, call to seeker with clear voice. Not have to search."

"Well," sighed Edholm, "we have it, for all the help that finding it does us."

"But what were those papers doing with it?" James asked. He looked at Burleigh. "Calvin, you took them from the report a week or so ago. I saw you taking them out and didn't think anything of it at the time." His eyes widened. "My God, you're the one, Calvin," he whispered.

He looked around him wildly, then continued. "So many things fall into place when the key is found. Your quarrels with Glamis. I always thought they were because you objected to his religious views and his behavior with Amelia. But, of course, you were jealous of him. You wanted her yourself, and he was always belittling you in her eyes. You killed him! And then, when you found that she still would have none of you, you killed her!"

"You forget that I was drugged this evening," replied Burleigh calmly.

"One person was not drugged," said Auckland. "One person had to get Amelia to her room, revive her, and induce her to drink poison. One person had to be awake and alert to try to prevent me from returning.

"That person knew that there would be time for both projects, and to get back to the table and feign unconsciousness before the others revived."

"You and Glamis were having an argument about Amelia last week, Burleigh," Edholm said. "I wasn't eavesdropping, but I heard your voices when I went by and couldn't help but catch part of the drift."

Burleigh nodded. "That much is true. But the rest is false."

"Hcent," Auckland said, "now is the time for truth." He looked around the room. "I arranged with the Vaec to say that the perfume and missing pages had been found in the kitchen, just as I arranged for them to say that the imitation box had been found in the shrubbery outside the building. I ask you now to tell us truthfully where all these things were found."

Hcent blinked. "All found in excellent Calvin's room."

Burleigh said nothing for a moment, then muttered softly, "The Vaec do not lie when asked to speak the truth. Then these things were found in my room. But I did not put them there. And the pages from the report--it's true that I borrowed some, but it wasn't _those_ pages, and I put them back."

Auckland stood up. "This killer overlooked many things, and made many stupid moves. One of the things overlooked was that the Vaec perfume is quite penetrating. Ekem-ve, Hcent, who here is wearing Vaec perfume?"

The two Carolinians pointed at Shirley Mason. "Very faint," Ekem-ve said. "Excellent Shirley dilutes much."

Shirley opened her mouth, a look of horror on her face, then buried her face in her hands. "No," gasped James. He turned to Burleigh. "I--I can't believe it. Then I was wrong about you. I--I told Auckland that I was sure that Glamis was blackmailing someone, though I didn't know who it was. I thought it was Amelia, really. But it must have been Shirley."

He shook his head. "He must have made life unbearable for you. But you didn't have to be afraid. No one is executed for murder any more. The treatment is painless. You had good reason for killing him, but...."

"He forced me to come on this expedition," she sobbed. "I can't tell you the things he made me do. I wanted him to die. I hoped he'd get stung some night when he took me out without his protective suit. But nothing ever happened to him. Only ... I didn't kill him."

"Miss Mason," said Edholm, "it will be much easier if you confess now. Examination under the detectors is very unpleasant. Not physical torture, but worse. You will have to tell everything you know about any question asked. You will try desperately to hold back things which really are not relevant, but which hurt terribly to tell. If you confess of your own free will, then you will be asked only if you have told the truth, and nothing else will go on the public record."

"Just a moment," objected Burleigh. "I've just been on the hook myself, and it looked pretty black against me. Now it looks black against her, but maybe we haven't gotten to the truth yet."

"My fault," said Auckland, chiding himself for forgetting that the Vaec were playing the 'simple native' roles again, and thus answering what was literally asked rather than what was meant. He looked at James for a moment, then said, "Doctor, I'm stumped."

"You've done good work, Roy," James said. "It was you who thought of the right question to ask them. I'm sorry it had to be this answer."

"Oh, that isn't what has me baffled, Howard. I've been sure of the truth for some time now. But the motive, the real motive, hasn't come out yet. I've been unable to deduce it, you see, so I shall have to ask you to tell us exactly why you killed Kenneth Glamis and your wife."

"Roy! You're out of your mind!"

"On the contrary. You missed something that Ekem-ve just said. He said that Shirley was wearing the perfume and that she dilutes it. But the perfume that was used to kill was undiluted, and the person who handled it evinces traces of it in full strength. What I should have asked was: Who here has traces of the perfume in full strength on his clothing, such as the inside of a pocket?"

The fingers now pointed at Dr. Howard James. "Inside pocket of jacket declares perfume," said Hcent.

"But I didn't put on my jacket until after we found Amelia," protested James. "Anyone could have put a drop of perfume there."

"But no one could have tampered with your drink, Doctor," said Auckland. He picked up the glass and held it out to Ekem-ve.

"Yes, excellent Roy," the Carolinian said.

"I've been watching you, you see, and I saw you pass your hand over the glass a little while ago. Yes, there's a vitamin capsule dissolving in it. A capsule which you no doubt opened and dosed with perfume."

James closed his eyes and murmured, "Amelia," softly.