Death of an Adept

"It appears we will be working further tonight. I wonder if I might beg your indulgence and ask you both to leave us? Harry is Noel McLeod's student, not mine. I've met him once before, but only superficially. Given the fact that he's still very new at this kind of thing, it's going to be difficult enough for us to work together without the added complication of an audience."

"Too true!" Philippa agreed briskly. "Come along, Ximena. Let's take ourselves off and spare the poor man the discomfort of being asked to perform in front of a roomful of strangers."

"Thank you," Adam said, accompanying them to the door. "I'm sorry if this seems a bit cavalier," he said to Ximena as he kissed her good night, "but it really wouldn't be practical for you to stay. I'll let you know how we've made out in the morning. In the meantime, try and get some sleep. I'll join you as soon as I can."

In preparation for what lay ahead, he locked the Hand away in the safe again and called Humphrey into the library to build up the fire while he and Peregrine made a quick trip back to the gate lodge to collect Peregrine's sketch box. En route he had Peregrine brief him regarding everything he could remember about working with Harry over the last month. Upon returning to the main house, they had settled into two chairs before a now respectable fire, the biscuit tin containing the Hand now set on a small table beside Adam's chair, when the sound of a car approaching up the drive made them prick up their ears. Very shortly after, there came a deferential knock at the door.

"Mr. Nimmo has arrived, sir," Humphrey said.

As he ushered the newcomer into the room, Peregrine sprang to his feet, followed by Adam.

"Harry!" Peregrine said, coming to shake the counsellor's hand. "You must have flown, instead of driving."

"You did say it was urgent," Harry replied. "Sir Adam, I'm pleased to meet you again."

"And I, you," Adam said, shaking the other man's hand. "Thank you for coming, so late and on such short notice. And please call me Adam. I've already put you in an awkward position by going over Noel's head to ask for you."

Harry shrugged, pulling an unexpectedly boyish grin. "Well, I certainly never expected that he wouldn't be here, the first time I worked with you, but Peregrine seems to think I might be able to help. This is all still pretty new to me, but I'll certainly give it my best shot. I never could resist the lure of a good mystery."

"Well, we certainly have that," Adam said with an answering smile. "Please, come and sit down. I'm afraid it may well seem like jumping right in at the deep end - but Peregrine has had a little - ah - setback this evening, and I'd rather not wait until he's recovered."

He left it to Peregrine to render an account of the evening's events, watching Harry's reactions as the counsellor listened closely, his initial bewilderment abating as his interest grew.

"You say this thing is made out of a human hand!" he asked at the conclusion of the artist's narrative.

Adam nodded.

"And you want me to touch it?"

Again Adam nodded.

"And did Peregrine tell you what happened when I only touched a scrap of bull hide?''

"Yes, he did," Adam said. "And given the impressions you got from that, I have hopes that you might pick up similar impressions from the Hand. It would be extremely useful if we could find out who prepared the thing."

Harry pulled a wry face. "I can't say this is my first choice in late-night entertainment."

"I can appreciate that," Adam said on a note of sincere regret. "If we had any other immediate recourse, I wouldn't be asking you to do this. But anyone capable of making and using as grisly a weapon as a Hand of Glory is not someone to be trifled with. No lasting harm was done tonight, but future victims might not be so lucky."

"Put like that, it makes a pretty incontestable argument," Harry said drily. "Aye, I'll do it - God knows I've seen worse things than dead hands in my soldiering days. I'd better warn you, though, that I don't have much control over these psychometric flashes I've been having."

"Experience may well change that," Adam said with a faint smile. "And Peregrine will tell you that I do have experience helping people learn control over such abilities. Just now, anything you can come up with is likely to be helpful. Even if you don't pick up on any names, a visual impression of one or more of the perpetrators would give us something to start on."

"If images are all I get," Harry said, "how are you going to know what I see?"

"That's easy," Peregrine said. "Just describe it, and I'll draw it."

Harry frowned. "I thought you said this Hand knocked you out of action."

"So it did," Adam agreed, "but only with respect to the psychic aspects of his talent. He's still one of the best forensic artists I've ever worked with. If you can provide him with a description, I promise you he'll turn it into an accurate likeness."