"_Evil?_" My lady the Countess looked shocked.

"Sorry, my lady, but--" Master Sean began contritely.

But Father Bright interrupted by speaking to the Countess. "Don"t distress yourself, my daughter; these men are only doing their duty."

"Of course. I understand. It"s just that it"s so--" She shuddered delicately.

Lord Darcy cast Master Sean a warning look, then asked politely, "Has my lady seen the deceased?"

"No," she said. "I will, however, if you wish."

"We"ll see," said Lord Darcy. "Perhaps it won"t be necessary. May we go up to the suite now?"

"Certainly," the Countess said. "Sir Pierre, if you will?"

"Yes, my lady."

As Sir Pierre unlocked the emblazoned door, Lord Darcy said: "Who else sleeps on this floor?"

"No one else, your lordship," Sir Pierre said. "The entire floor is ...

was ... reserved for my lord the Count."

"Is there any way up besides that elevator?"

Sir Pierre turned and pointed toward the other end of the short hallway. "That leads to the staircase," he said, pointing to a ma.s.sive oaken door, "but it"s kept locked at all times. And, as you can see, there is a heavy bar across it. Except for moving furniture in and out or something like that, it"s never used."

"No other way up or down, then?"

Sir Pierre hesitated. "Well, yes, your lordship, there is. I"ll show you."

"A secret stairway?"

"Yes, your lordship."

"Very well. We"ll look at it after we"ve seen the body."

Lord Darcy, having spent an hour on the train down from Rouen, was anxious to see the cause of the trouble at last.

He lay in the bedroom, just as Sir Pierre and Father Bright had left him.

"If you please, Dr. Pateley," said his lordship.

He knelt on one side of the corpse and watched carefully while Pateley knelt on the other side and looked at the face of the dead man. Then he touched one of the hands and tried to move an arm. "Rigor has set in--even to the fingers. Single bullet hole. Rather small caliber--I should say a .28 or .34--hard to tell until I"ve probed out the bullet. Looks like it went right through the heart, though. Hard to tell about powder burns; the blood has soaked the clothing and dried.

Still, these specks ... hm-m-m. Yes. Hm-m-m."

Lord Darcy"s eyes took in everything, but there was little enough to see on the body itself. Then his eye was caught by something that gave off a golden gleam. He stood up and walked over to the great canopied four-poster bed, then he was on his knees again, peering under it. A coin? No.

He picked it up carefully and looked at it. A b.u.t.ton. Gold, intricately engraved in an Arabesque pattern, and set in the center with a single diamond. How long had it lain there? Where had it come from? Not from the Count"s clothing, for his b.u.t.tons were smaller, engraved with his arms, and had no gems. Had a man or a woman dropped it? There was no way of knowing at this stage of the game.

Darcy turned to Sir Pierre. "When was this room last cleaned?"

"Last evening, your lordship," the secretary said promptly. "My lord was always particular about that. The suite was always to be swept and cleaned during the dinner hour."

"Then this must have rolled under the bed at some time after dinner.

Do you recognize it? The design is distinctive."

The Privy Secretary looked carefully at the b.u.t.ton in the palm of Lord Darcy"s hand without touching it. "I ... I hesitate to say," he said at last. "It looks like ... but I"m not sure--"

"Come, come, Chevalier! Where do you think you _might_ have seen it?

Or one like it." There was a sharpness in the tone of his voice.

"I"m not trying to conceal anything, your lordship," Sir Pierre said with equal sharpness. "I said I was not sure. I still am not, but it can be checked easily enough. If your lordship will permit me--" He turned and spoke to Dr. Pateley, who was still kneeling by the body.

"May I have my lord the Count"s keys, doctor?"

Pateley glanced up at Lord Darcy, who nodded silently. The physician detached the keys from the belt and handed them to Sir Pierre.

The Privy Secretary looked at them for a moment, then selected a small gold key. "This is it," he said, separating it from the others on the ring. "Come with me, your lordship."

Darcy followed him across the room to a broad wall covered with a great tapestry that must have dated back to the sixteenth century. Sir Pierre reached behind it and pulled a cord. The entire tapestry slid aside like a panel, and Lord Darcy saw that it was supported on a track some ten feet from the floor. Behind it was what looked at first like ordinary oak paneling, but Sir Pierre fitted the small key into an inconspicuous hole and turned. Or, rather, tried to turn.

"That"s odd," said Sir Pierre. "It"s not locked!"

He took the key out and pressed on the panel, shoving sideways with his hand to move it aside. It slid open to reveal a closet.

The closet was filled with women"s clothing of all kinds, and styles.

Lord Darcy whistled soundlessly.

"Try that blue robe, your lordship," the Privy Secretary said. "The one with the--Yes, that"s the one."

Lord Darcy took it off its hanger. The same b.u.t.tons. They matched. And there was one missing from the front! Torn off! "Master Sean!" he called without turning.

Master Sean came with a rolling walk. He was holding an oddly-shaped bronze thing in his hand that Sir Pierre didn"t quite recognize. The sorcerer was muttering. "Evil, that there is! Faith, and the vibrations are all over the place. Yes, my lord?"

"Check this dress and the b.u.t.ton when you get round to it. I want to know when the two parted company."

"Yes, my lord." He draped the robe over one arm and dropped the b.u.t.ton into a pouch at his belt. "I can tell you one thing, my lord. You talk about an evil miasma, this room has got it!" He held up the object in his hand. "There"s an underlying background--something that has been here for years, just seeping in. But on top of that, there"s a h.e.l.lish big blast of it superimposed. Fresh it is, and very strong."

"I shouldn"t be surprised, considering there was murder done here last night--or very early this morning," said Lord Darcy.

"Hm-m-m, yes. Yes, my lord, the death is there--but there"s something else. Something I can"t place."

"You can tell that just by holding that bronze cross in your hand?"

Sir Pierre asked interestedly.

Master Sean gave him a friendly scowl. ""Tisn"t quite a cross, sir.