Death of an Adept

"Decades?" Peregrine murmured. "How could that be? I mean, isn't there some equivalent to our own Hunting Lodge down in Wales? Wouldn't someone have noticed?"

"The English have a loose confederation of several groups that perform some of the same functions we do," Philippa said. "But unless Evans had done something to draw attention to himself, it's quite possible he could have gone unnoticed - particularly since he seems to have gone to considerable lengths to keep a low profile."

"There wax that incident at Druids' Circle, two years ago," McLeod pointed out.

"That hardly counts," Philippa said, shaking her head. "I very much doubt much serious energy was raised on that occasion. 'A mere ripple in the Force,' as your young lolo might say."

"Perhaps you're right," Adam agreed. "But the episode does tell us one thing of value. It tells us that Evans apparently has nothing but a deep and withering contempt for all modern interpreters of Druid tradition - which suggests that his own esoteric roots go back to very ancient sources."

"How so?" Peregrine asked.

"Well, leaving the Callanish incident aside for the moment, everything else Noel has been able to discover about Evans makes him out to be a solitary recluse who, for whatever reason, shuns contact with the rest of the world. He has, as far as we can tell, no family, no friends, and no known associates. His whole life would seem to be centered in his work as an occultist - and up till now, that is something he has pursued alone and in secret, never seriously venturing outside the hidden hallow he has created for his own private use.

"Callanish, on the other hand, was a large-scale operation. It simply could not have been carried out by one man on his own. We know from Peregrine's drawings that Evans was there, in full ceremonial regalia, presumably as the director of the ritual. But there were a number of others present as well - a fact which raises several important questions."

He began ticking off items on his fingers. "To begin with, what could have motivated Evans to come out hiding after all these years spent in apparently deliberate obscurity? Next, why Callanish, rather than someplace closer to home? And finally, was Evans himself the instigator, summoning outside support for a venture of his own devising, or was he himself recruited as figurehead for an operation conceived by someone else?"

"That's a lot of questions," Peregrine said. "So far, we're not even sure if Evans is this fellow's real name."

"True," Philippa agreed. "But your comment about other Hunting Lodges has made me think of someone who might be able to give us some answers. He himself doesn't work in a Druid tradition, but he'll know who does - both the legitimate ones and those who skate closer to the Abyss." Her dark eyes shifted to meet Adam's. "Do you want to phone him, or shall I?"

"I will," Adam said.

"Phone who?" Peregrine asked.

But Adam was already moving toward the telephone on the desk. A quick flick through his desktop Rolodex gave him the number he wanted. After three rings, he got a response.

"Oakwood," said a discreet male voice.

"Hello, Linton. This is Adam Sinclair, ringing from Scotland. If he's available, I'd like a word with Sir John."

He glanced back at them as he waited for the call to be relayed to Gen. Sir John Graham.

"Adam! This is a delightful surprise! What can I do for you?"

"Hello, Gray. I wish I could say that this was purely a social call, but the truth of the matter is, I'm hoping you can give me some information."

"Ah, looking to put the old warhorse back into harness, are you?" Graham said equably. "I'll do my best to oblige. What kind of information are you after?''

"I'm trying to locate a man who calls himself Griffith Evans."

"Griffith Evans." Graham paused a beat. "No, I can't say that the name rings any bells. Could it be a pseudonym?"

"How about Taliere?" Adam ventured.

"Now, that sounds a bit more familiar. Welsh, maybe - but so is Griffith Evans. What's the context?"

"We have reason to believe that this Evans may have been involved in an incident that took place up here in the Hebrides about a week before the new year," Adam said. "It may not have made the papers down in London, but it caused quite a stir up here. There were certain - ah - Druidic aspects," he added carefully.

"I see," Graham replied, in a tone that conveyed full understanding and attention. "Please go on."

"Well, we haven't been able to establish for certain that Taliere and this Evans are one and the same," Adam said, "but two of my colleagues were able to trace Evans as far as a cottage in North Wales. Unfortunately, Mr. Evans himself was nowhere to be found, so the trail peters out there. We do have a set of his fingerprints, courtesy of the police in Conwy, and we can connect him to a couple of very minor incidents in the last ten years, but the usual police sources run dry beyond that point."

"So you're hoping for alternative sources of information," Graham said.