The Inquisitor by David Penny

Author:David Penny [Penny, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780993076176
Publisher: Rivertree Print
Published: 2018-01-28T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The door to al-Amrhan’s house remained unlocked. It swung open to Thomas’s touch, but he knew if the man had returned he had already come and gone. He entered in any case, always wanting to be sure he had covered all possibilities. The single room had indeed been emptied, but ransacked. Some passing stranger had seen the door open and entered to steal whatever was worth stealing. Thomas doubted the thief had been much pleased with his haul. He turned, leaving the door open, and ran to the south and the palace, hoping Samuel would be there. Thomas had lost patience with the man, all semblance of friendship draining away. The killing involved a man who possessed the skills of a surgeon, and Samuel had to know more than he had said so far.

Frustration at a lack of progress made Thomas more forceful than he intended because Samuel cried out when he was held against the wall, his feet twitching as they sought the floor. Thomas sighed and put him down.

“What are you doing?”

“Answer my question, Samuel. I am tired and, as you have discovered, in a foul mood.”

Samuel sought the narrow chair, pulled it from beneath the table and sat. Thomas stayed where he was, leaning against the stone wall.

“Yes, I know Quys, he is a good physician but struggles to find patients willing to pay him. He’s a Moor, like you.”

“Not quite like me,” Thomas said. “Might he have become desperate enough to accept money for murder?”

“We save lives, not take them. Even you should know that.”

Even me? Thomas had no idea what he meant.

“If he wanted to hide where would be go?”

“I cannot help. He has no friends that I know of,” said Samuel.

“Other than you.”

“I am not a friend. I have used him now and then when I could. I feel sorry for him. It is not his fault people object to his religion. He had enough work before the Inquisition came, but these days it has made everyone suspect their neighbour.”

“Might it have turned his mind?”

“You are persistent, aren’t you? I do not know him well, as I have already told you, but well enough to judge him incapable of cold blooded murder. And these deaths are nothing if not cold blooded. You will need to direct your suspicions elsewhere.”

“Yes, I will.”

Thomas turned to leave, tiredness making his head spin for a moment and he reached out to lean against the wall. When he moved again his foot kicked at something set on the floor in an alcove and he glanced, incurious, then stopped.

“What is this?” He tapped the bottle with his toe.

“You know what it is. It is your mixture, is it not?”

“How do you come to have it? I left none after I treated Juan.”

Samuel smiled. “Once a thing is known it can be copied, you know that as well as I. Theresa told me of the magical liquor you brought with you. She described it, not well, but well enough. I have a friend, far more skilled than me, and between us we managed to create something close.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.