The Unknown Spy (30 page)

“Tell us what you know,” Danny said.

Les hesitated.

“Don’t lie, Les,” Danny said. “If you don’t tell the truth I’ll just call Toxique up here and get it out of him.”

Toxique moaned even louder. Vandra put her arm around him, and his father turned to give him a bleak look.

“Les?” Danny said.

“I … I saw Devoy,” Les said. “Me and Toxique. He was in … the torture room.”

“Tell them,” Brunholm said. “Don’t hold anything back, Knutt.”

“What was he doing?” Danny asked.

“He was … he was polishing things. He was oiling the iron maiden.” There was a shocked silence, as if people had not really believed the accusation until this moment. Longford spoke again.

“You may pass sentence, I think, Danny. No time like the present.” Danny turned to Longford and met his gaze. The whole room could sense the malice and cold calculation flowing between the two members of the Ring. In that moment Danny was truly the Fifth, all that Longford had wished him to be. Danny turned back to Devoy, and those near him flinched at the dark power in his face. Toxique Senior flexed his fingers. Danny knew exactly what Devoy had done and why he had done it, but that did not matter now. He held the power of life and death, and Devoy, looking into his eyes, knew how capable he was of exercising it.

Vandra got to her feet. She took Danny’s ring from her finger, her eyes accusing, and threw it at his feet. Danny picked it up.

“Master Devoy,” he said, “by your own admission and the testimony of others, you have transgressed against the penal code, for which there is only one sentence.…”

“Excuse me …” A weary, civilized voice spoke out. “Excuse me?”

The Unknown Spy had been sitting forgotten at the foot of the dais throughout the proceedings. Now he was looking up at Danny, a thoughtful expression on his face.

“You’re Steff and Grace’s boy, aren’t you? I wondered what had happened to you after all these years. They covered it up, you know. They didn’t want people to know.”

Danny stood like a statue, staring at the Unknown Spy.

“Didn’t make you out to be a wrong ’un. Grace had her moments, of course, but when she was with Steff she was different. It upset them that no one thought marriage between a man and a Cherb possible or desirable. Steff wouldn’t have liked you being involved with this Ring business. Wouldn’t have liked it at all. Master and mistress of disguise, those two. Wonder what happened to the pair of ’em.”

Turmoil raged in Danny. Time stopped. He could still feel the presence of the Ring in his thoughts, but there was another presence, something that was his own, a person who had parents called Steff and Grace. With a great wrench he freed his mind. A calm descended over him, a calm in which he saw everything with absolute clarity. He turned to Devoy.

“You restored the torture instruments, didn’t you?” Devoy nodded, eyes fixed on Danny. “But you didn’t do it to torture,” Danny went on, “far from it. You did it to save a cadet. You knew that Toxique had not assassinated anyone, as was required by family law. You hoped to save him by pretending that he had developed a talent for torture, a talent that Wilsons was nurturing. You were going to show his father around the chamber and pretend that Toxique was torturing people in it. Then you could say, ‘You can be proud of your son now. He has a profession, even though it is not as an assassin.’ Isn’t that right, Master Devoy?”

Devoy nodded slowly.

“It would have been seen as an honorable profession for a Toxique—not as honorable as an assassin, of course, but it would have sufficed to avert the wrath of his father.”

“What is this?” Longford’s voice cut across the room like a whiplash. “Is he or is he not involved in the maintenance of a torture room? His reasons for doing so are irrelevant. Danny, instruct Mr. Toxique. Finish this now!”

Danny shook his head. The other members of the Ring were on their feet now, anger on their faces. Dixie, looking bewildered, cried out, “What’s going on here?”

“It was all a sham from the start,” Danny said, “a scheme of Master Devoy’s. Once he had renovated the torture room, he saw the possibility of using it for another purpose. He had himself accused of torture and imprisoned.”

“Why?” It was Spitfire’s turn to look bewildered.

“Because he knew there were traitors in Wilsons. Information had been escaping. With the Treaty Stone broken it was imperative that these traitors be exposed. Brunholm was in on it, of course. He allowed Ness to replace Blackpitt. He invited the Ring to take over Wilsons, knowing that the traitors would come out into the open. As they have done. Exshaw and Hotspur are the real traitors. The others, like Smyck, are merely foolish.”

Danny had never liked Brunholm, but he had to admire the way the man had pretended to be a traitor to Wilsons and carried it off. He nodded to Brunholm, who stood and bowed. Nurse Flanagan eyed him coldly.

“An elegant strategy, Master Devoy,” Longford said with a smile, “and it almost came off—
would
have come
off, if I had not had the foresight to bring a large force of Seraphim with me.” All eyes in the ballroom turned to the Seraphim roosting like vultures outside.

“As I say, you almost succeeded, but unfortunately you lost in the end. You have your traitors, but I still have Wilsons. Any resistance will be of course be met with the sternest reprisal. Danny, I will deal with you later. You have disappointed me twice. You are not the true Fifth. Never mind. You are not the only mongrel that history has thrown up. There will be another. But I cannot have you alive, Danny, trying to disrupt my schemes. You have interfered for the last time. Ness!”

A long knife appeared in the Cherb leader’s hand. A flick of his wrist and it flew through the air, aimed straight at Danny’s heart. The ballroom was frozen. Danny could see the knife coming toward him as though in slow motion, cleaving the air, and knew that he could not avoid it.

“No!” The Unknown Spy, once more forgotten, flung himself forward. The knife buried itself with a terrible thud in his chest. Danny’s hand went into his coat. The Knife of Implacable Intention was at the ready before the Unknown Spy fell, with a low moan, to the floor. Devoy ran to his side. Danny aimed the knife at Longford.

“You know this knife never misses its intended target,” he said in a dangerous voice. “Do not make me kill you.” He turned slightly. “Les!”

Les ran up from the ballroom. Danny handed him the knife.

“Keep it aimed at Longford. If any of them move, just throw it.”

“I know what to do,” Les said. “I gave you the knife, remember? Way back when you first came to Wilsons?”

Danny quickly knelt beside the Unknown Spy. Vandra was already there. Her gentle hands probed the wound.

“There is nothing I can do,” she said softly after a few seconds. “The knife has penetrated the heart, and I am a healer, not a surgeon.”

Danny looked into the man’s face. He’d been so close to finding out where his parents might have gone. The Unknown Spy’s breathing was shallow and ragged. He beckoned Danny closer.

“Your father … your father asked me to look after you if something … if something happened to him. Didn’t do a very good job, did I? Forgot everything. Didn’t realize when I saw your eyes the first time. Talking to Devoy in the cell … it all started to come back.…”

“You did everything you could and more,” Devoy said, kneeling down beside the man.

“Maybe,” the Unknown Spy said. “It’s getting dark in here.”

“The light hasn’t changed,” Danny started to say, then stopped, realizing that the man was slipping away.

“Please,” Danny said, “if you could only tell me …”

“I would tell Steff’s boy everything if I could. It was terrible what they did to him. He told me he had discovered how to conquer all. ‘Pass it on to my boy,’ he said, ‘if something happens to me. Make sure he knows.’ ”

“Knows what?” Danny cried. But a fleeting smile flickered on the Unknown Spy’s lips, as though he had
seen a familiar face just over Danny’s shoulder. He turned his head to one side.

“The things we love are always closer than we think,” he whispered, and closed his eyes.

“He’s gone,” Devoy said gently. Danny bowed his head. He had been so close.

“I’m sorry, Danny,” Vandra said. Every pair of eyes in the room was turned toward the little group around the Unknown Spy. Rufus Ness saw that Les was distracted. Moving so quickly that his feet barely touched the floor, the Cherb circled behind Les. There was a cry and Les fell to the ground, clutching his arm. Ness picked up the Knife of Implacable Intention.

“Thank you, Rufus,” Longford said. “A most touching scene. The Fifth and the master of Wilsons kneeling before the corpse of a ragged old spy who can’t remember his own name. Conal, I fear we will have to teach Wilsons a lesson. In your honor, Danny, I will make the theme of our attack the number five. Have the Seraphim slay every fifth pupil and every fifth Messenger—and it wouldn’t be fair to leave the staff out, would it, so we shall have to kill every fifth faculty member as well.”

Conal lifted a chair and threw it through one of the great windows. Then he launched himself from the edge of the dais and flew with great slow wingbeats through the window. Longford turned to Danny.

“So you are Steff Pilkington’s pup, are you? I should have guessed. He was a meddling fool, and he appears to have passed it on. I wonder who your mother was?
Grace … Grace … let me think … of course—I know!” He started to laugh. His laughter went on and on. From outside came a great rush of wings as the Seraphim rose triumphantly into the air. Some of the younger cadets cried out as the dreadful creatures drew swords. Danny lifted his eyes from the body of the Unknown Spy, tears streaming down his face. Longford’s mocking laughter echoed around the room. Dixie saw what was in Danny’s eyes.

“Danny, no!” she cried, but it was too late. There was a roaring sound as though a terrible wind stirred in the ballroom; then, with a crash, all the windows blew out. Ness dropped the knife in his hand. The Seraphim’s triumph turned to trepidation, then to outright panic. A gale laden with broken glass from the shattered windows broke upon them and blew them like leaves before it. With cries and shrieks they were driven across the sky, their wings useless against the wind summoned by Danny. He watched as they grew small in the sky and then were gone, the only sign of their presence a few feathers floating gently to the ground.

Danny turned then to the four members of the Ring, but they had fled. A car started in the distance and wheels spun on gravel. The Ring had made good their escape. The stunned silence in the ballroom stretched on; then, as if at a signal, everyone began to talk at once.

TREACHERY AND LOYALTY

D
anny sat alone in the summerhouse. He held the ring given to him by the dead, the intertwined “S” and “G.”

“Put it on,” a voice said. He looked up to see the detective McGuinness standing in the doorway. “They’re in a right state up at Wilsons,” he said. “Seraphim feathers everywhere. Hotspur and Exshaw fled with Longford and the rest of the Ring. Brunholm is delighted with his part. As for you, that is a great power you have, Danny. Use it wisely.”

“This coat,” Danny said softly, touching the battered old trench coat. “It belonged to my dad, Steff Pilkington. Is he dead, then?”

“I believe so, Danny. I would not hold out any hope for your mother and father. But I knew Steff. He was a great spy.”

“Not great enough to keep himself alive.”

“It is part of the work, Danny. Danger always follows you. And if you are good at what you do it will catch up with you at the end. That is the fate of the great spy, if he does not turn to evil. Your father knew that.”

“He abandoned me,” Danny said. “And my mother left me.”

“I’m not sure you’re right about that. I didn’t know your mother, but Steff was not a man to abandon anyone. Spying was everything to him, you have to remember that,” McGuinness said.

“No I don’t. I know I’m right,” Danny said, “and right now, at this moment, I feel like walking to Tarnstone and taking a ferry across to join the Ring of Five, if they’ll still have me. At least then I’ll belong to something.”

“You will—belong to them, I mean. You’ll be owned, heart and soul. Corrupted by the Ring.”

“But I won’t be alone.”

“You’re not alone here. You have friends. One of them needs you now and you’re not there.”

“How could they need me? What did Longford call me? A mongrel!”

“Even a mongrel still has a bark,” McGuinness said, looking at Danny coldly, “if he chooses to use it. Do as you will, Danny. I have work to do.”

The detective left without a backward glance. Danny sat alone in the darkened summerhouse, turning the ring over and over in his hands.

* * *

T
oxique waited in the hallway, his suitcase packed, Valant watching him from behind his desk but not daring to intervene. Toxique’s father had been closeted with Devoy for over an hour, and Valant didn’t need a Beetle of Transmission to know what was going on. Toxique had failed as an assassin. The treaty might have been shattered, the Ring gathering strength for incursions into the Upper World, but the code of the Toxiques held firm. Valant shook his head. It had always been so. He heard light measured footsteps approaching. His eyes were dull and hopeless.