Soul of the Fire

"Oh I know," Hildemara said as she leaned past her husband to pat Dalton's wrist in a show for Teresa and any watching eyes. "I know how hard Dalton has been working. Everyone appreciates all he is doing. We know of the great number of people he has brought in to be interviewed for information.

"It's just that some people are beginning to question if all the effort is ever going to produce the guilty party. People fear the killers still among them and are eager to settle the matter."

"That's right," Bertrand said, "and we, more than anyone, want the murder solved so as to have the peace of mind that our people can rest safely again."

"Yes," Hildemara said, with a cold glint in her eye. "It must be solved."

There was no mistaking the icy command in her tone. Dalton didn't know if Hildemara had told Bertrand what she had ordered be done with Claudine, but it wouldn't really matter to him. He was finished with the woman and had moved on to others. He wouldn't mind at all if she cleaned up his mess behind him and silenced any potential trouble.

Dalton had been expecting that the Minister and his wife might grow weary of the people complaining, before the people grew weary of talking about the murder of a prominent woman from the estate. As a precaution, he already had laid plans; it looked as if he was to be forced into them.

His first choice would be to wait, for he knew the talk would soon die down and the whole matter would be forgotten, or at most people would occasionally click their tongues in passing sorrow and perhaps even titillation. But Bertrand liked to be seen as competent in his office. The toll on others was only a minor consideration to him. To Hildemara, it was irrelevant. Their impatience, however, was dangerous.

"I, as much as anyone, want the killers found," Dalton said. "However, as a man of the law, I am bound by my oath of office to be sure we find the true killers, and not simply accuse someone falsely just to see someone punished.

"I know you have sternly given me this very caution in the past," Dalton lied for any listening ears.

When he saw Hildemara about to object to any delay, Dalton added in a low, suddenly ill-humored tone, "Not only would it be wrong to be so hasty as to falsely accuse innocent men, but were we to rashly charge men with the crime, and after the sentence it turned out the Mother Confessor wished to take their confessions, and she found we had sentenced innocent men, our incompetence would be rightly denounced not only by the Mother Confessor, but the Sovereign and the Directors as well."

He wanted to make sure they fully grasped the risks involved.

"Worse, though, should we sentence men to death and carry out the executions before the Mother Confessor was allowed to review the case, she might interject herself in a way that could not only topple the government, but see top officials touched by her power as punishment."

Bertrand and Hildemara sat wide-eyed and silent after Dalton's quiet but sobering lecture.

"Of course, Dalton. Of course you're right." Bertrand's fingers fanned the air in a motion like a fish wriggling its fins to swim backward. "I didn't mean to give the impression I meant any such thing, of course.

"As Minister I cannot allow a person to be falsely accused. I wouldn't have such a thing happen. Not only would it be a terrible injustice to the ones falsely accused, but in so doing it would allow the real killers to thus escape to kill again."

"But that said"-a tone of threat returned to Hildemara's voice-"I think you must be close to naming the killers? I've heard such good things about your abilities that I suspect you are merely being thorough. Surely the Minister's chief aide will soon see justice done? The people will want to know the Minister of Culture is competent. He must be seen as effective in seeing this through to resolution."

"That's right," Bertrand said, eyeing his wife until she eased back into her seat. "We wish a just resolution."

"Added onto that," Hildemara said, "there is talk of a poor Haken girl recently being raped. Rumors are spreading rapidly about the rape. People think the two crimes are connected."

"I heard whispers of that, too," Teresa said. "It's just terrible."

Dalton might have guessed Hildemara would have found out about that and want it cleaned up, too. He had been prepared for that eventuality, as well, but hoped to skirt the issue if he could.

"A Haken girl? And who is to say she's telling the truth? Perhaps she is attempting to cover a pregnancy out of wedlock and is claiming rape so as to gain sympathy in a time of heightened passions."

Bertrand dragged a slice of pork through a small bowl of mustard. "No one has yet come forward with her name, but from what I've heard, it is believed to be genuine. People are still trying to discover her name so as to bring her before a magistrate."