Swordplay

Part 31

When Moira entered Sabio's office, she was surprised to see Semra. "Where is Sabio?"

"He transferred to the archive." Semra held out her hand. "It's wonderful that you're back, Moira."

Only now did Moira notice the brass sign with "Commissaire Semra Jaman" written in dainty golden letters. "Oh, you've been advanced?"

Semra sighed. "Someone has to do the dirty work. I'd feel better if Sabio or Druidus would sit here."

Moira sat on a chair in front of the desk and explained the theories she and her father had come up with to Semra.

"Sabio and I thought along the same lines. Unfortunately, we couldn't build a conclusive chain of events." Semra dug a file out of the pile of folders on her desk and handed it to Moira. "Docs autopsy showed that, apart from Monsieur, the Ramasseurs died the same way as the homeless people before."

"The blood is missing?"

Semra nodded. "If you count five to six liters blood per person, there should have been twenty-five to thirty liters. I wonder where it all went." She bent forward. "By the way, the murders stopped since they took Druidus into custody. More than two weeks without new corpses. It gets you thinking, doesn't it?"

Moira fought to stay quiet. "I thought we agreed that Druidus isn't a murderer."

"I am only repeating the press' arguments. They say that he did confess to his father's murder, so why should it have been his first?"

Moira put the file back on the desk. "If it's only a question of no more murders, the reason could well have been Excelsior's death or that of Monsieur Ramasseur."

"We both know that the press earns its money with speculations like that. But as long as we don't have sound proof, there isn't much we can do." Semra stretched and yawned with her hand in front of her mouth. "Dear me, am I tired. How did Sabio survive this?" She smiled at Moira. "I'd appreciate it if you could work hand in hand with him. In his opinion, there is a homicide spell behind all the murders, because Druidus acted so strangely. Unfortunately, our lab couldn't find one even with the most sensitive spell detectors."

"What do you think?" Moira asked.

Semra shrugged. "Difficult to say. But I really hope Sabio is right. All other possibilities are really hard to prove."

Moira got up. "I'd better go and help him right now."

Semra nodded. "Get him to rest, too, at least for a little while. Since he transferred to the archive, he hardly goes home any more. I fear he's close to collapsing."

At the door, Moira turned once more because she had remembered something. "Have you found a clue to Pete Huudien's whereabouts?"

"Buds found a couple of people who think they might have seen him near several of the crime scenes. But there's no trace of where he could be now." Semra dug back into her files. "Take care of Sabio, Will you?"

"Done." Moira left. The closer she got to the archive, the slower she walked. Fear tugged at her nerves, and they vibrated like bowstrings. The gruesome scene was still too much alive in her memory. Her hands shook, and she felt cold. Reluctantly, she opened the door. Relieved, she noticed that the crime scene cleaning crew had cleaned the room well. Not the slightest trace of blood was left behind. It didn't help her to cope with her memory, but it made it easier to enter the archive.

The archivist's workbench had been moved right beside the entrance desk, and Sabio crouched over a sheave of paper lying on it. He looked up from his work, and a smile brightened his sunken face. "It's nice to see you're feeling better. I worried about you."