The Skag Castle by Robert Sheckley

Author:Robert Sheckley
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2013-05-31T16:00:00+00:00

As soon as he could move, Gregor snapped on the light. Arnold was smiling faintly, staring at the place where the Skag had been.

“Very interesting,” Arnold said. “Very interesting indeed.”

“What is?”

“Do you remember how Myra described the Undead Scarb?”

’"Sure. She said it was nine feet tall, had little wings, and—oh, I think I see.”

“Precisely,” Arnold said. “This Skag or Scarb was no more than four feet in height, without wings.”

“I suppose there could be two types,” Gregor said dubiously. “But what bearing does this have on the underground noises? The whole thing is getting ridiculously complicated. Surely you must realize that.”

“Complication is frequently a key to solution,” Arnold said. “Simplicity alone is baffling. Complexity, on the other hand, implies the presence of a self-contradictory logic structure. Once the incomprehensibles are reconciled and the extraneous factors are cancelled, the murderer stands revealed in the glaring light of rational inevitability.”

“What are you talking about?” Gregor shouted. “There wasn’t any murder here!”

“I was quoting from lesson three in the Hepburn School for Scientific Detection Correspondence Course. And I know there was no murder. I was just speaking in general.”

“But what do you think is going on?” Gregor asked.

“Something funny is going on,” Arnold said. He smiled knowingly, turned over and went to sleep.

Gregor snapped out the light. Arnold’s course, he remembered, had cost ten dollars plus a coupon from Horror Crime Magazine. His partner had certainly received his money’s worth.

There were no further incidents that night.

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