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It was unfortunate that Magistrate Powers had consented for Matthew&039;s appointistrate&039;s office on Thursday h to write a single line Thethat had happened and Matthew obliged hi" that caused hi

"Off with you, then," Powers advised "I&039;ll poach another clerk You go home and rest"

"I think I&039;ll stop by the apothecary for so his shoulder "I&039;ll be ready for the Knox hearing toh"

"I&039;istrate Mackfinay has anything on his docket I&039;ll ask if I ht borrow his clerk" Poaved him out the door "You just rest your arm"

"Thank you, sir I will try to do my job tomorrow"

"If not, not Don&039;t worry yourself about it" He looked at Matthew appreciatively "I&039; chosen by Mrs Herrald for this position shines just as ht on et herto pay you well, aren&039;t theyi"

"We haven&039;t actually talked about the figures"

"Seeal representation yourself If you want a proper contract drawn up, I&039;ll be glad to advise"

"Thank you" Mattheas about to leave, but he hesitated at the door

"So elsei" Powers looked up fro about Mrs Herrald Do you know anything more about heri"

"Such asi"

"You mentioned that you both shared eneistrate spent ato inspect-the first few lines of the letter atop his stack of correspondence "Mrs Herrald didn&039;t inform youi" he asked "Of her historyi"

"She told ency I understood that he is deceased Is there so more I should knowi" It came to him then "ah You and Mrs Herrald knew each other in London That&039;s why she sent the er Mr Greathousei"

"It was Hudson, yes"

"You&039;re on the basis of first names with himi That&039;s an is with Mrs Herrald, theni"

The istrate summoned up a crooked smile "Now I see what it&039;s like to be on the witness stand Shall I plead guilty and throw myself on the mercy of the court, Mr Prosecutori"

"I&039;m sorry, sir" Matthew had to smile as well, et carried away"

"So I constantly note To answer, I did know Katherine Herrald in London I ht her to a Saturday supper at the fraternity"

"Richi"

"Richard Herrald He was a ood tennis player, too alood asin criht that beautiful Katherine Taylor to the Saturday supper and afterward all the lot of us put down bets as to when they&039;d be married I lost, but not by istrate focused false attention on his papers Matthe there was definitely so he wished to say, but perhaps decorum forbade it "I think," Powers said at last, "that Mrs Herrald should answer your question"

"But the part about the &039;shared enemies,&039;" Matthew persisted "Shouldn&039;t you answer that onei" He rereed He said nothinginto space Then: "But es upon Mrs Herrald&039;s, and so I leave it to her"

"Sir, I&039; only for-"

"If you&039;re not out of this office in five seconds," Powers said, "I should think your mouth could dictate these letters to the quill of Mackfinay&039;s clerk So are you going, or are you stayingi"

"Going"

"Then be gone"

The door closed at Matthew&039;s back

On the way out he nearly ran into Chief Prosecutor Bynes once again, so he had to hold his progress until the man had descended the stairs Then he went down and walked into the bright ht With an eye in the back of his head he entered the streaon and started up Smith Street for the apothecary

Matthew couldn&039;t help but linger under the apothecary&039;s red-striped awning and again exaround where Deverick had fallen He&039;d found nothing yesterday, and today found the same So it was into the apothecary, with its counter behind which were shelves of elixir bottles, heartburn chalk, various tree barks to treat fevers, calamine lotion, leech jars, dental powder, crushed flowers and herbs, ars and the like, and after a short ti to Mr Oosterhout he came back onto the street with a small paper-wrapped vial of yarrow oil which he was to apply twice a day He turned right at the intersection of S, which took him unfortunately past Eben ausley&039;s domain-which to him looked no kinder by sun than by the dark of the moon-and to the printmaster&039;s shop

Soon he was in the co articles and fro the small blocks of metal typeface in their sticks The device of note, at the center of the ht have been used by the hand of Gutenberg hi at such a contraption, it was hard to believe it was the medium by which parchment sheets pressed with la events and proclai news to the citizens

"Cosby asked "Then if all goes e can get to the pressing toave hisby read it carefully "The Herrald agencyi Letters of inquiry to go to the Dock House Inni What&039;s this abouti"

"For you, money" Matthew opened his wallet and offered one of the re silvers "Will that do for a one-tisby exa to eat it "What&039;s this in the notice, thoughi &039;Proble&039;i What kind of problemsi"

"Just run the notice as it is, if you please I&039;m sure it will speak for itself to those who have an interest"

"all right, then Now coet some fresh paper I want to hear your story of how you casby held up a hand before Matthew could protest "I know you weren&039;t first on the scene, but my intervieith Phillip Covey was less than substantial I want to know your iers told you about the Masker Come, come! Sit down!"

as Matthew took a seat in the cane-backed chair, he was fitfully aware of McCaggers advising hiuard his information and of Bynes&039; more forceful advice at City Hall He waited until the printmaster was ready with a dipped quill, and then he said, "I can give you h, but I have to refrain frosby&039;s thick white eyebrows began to convulse "Oh no, Matthew! Not you, as well!"

"Me as hati"

"You&039;re not turning againstinformation that Lillehorne wants kept froistrate Poho&039;s choked your chaini"

Matthew shook his head "You know ht not be in the best interest of the investigation to divulge any sby leaned over the paper "Then he did use the naaini"

"I believe he made it clear he thinks the killer of both sby, spraying spittle upon the paper as he began to scribe with a fury only a writerin his mind the awesome thunder that would break from Bynes&039; ers didn&039;t use that term, exactly I&039;m not sure it&039;s wise to-"

"Nonsense!" came the quick, clipped retort "The Gazette would use it, and if it&039;s good enough for the Gazette, it&039;s good enough for the Earwig!" He dipped his quill again "Now, let&039;s have your story fro"

an hour later, Matthew left the printrinding that, being as fuddled as he was froht&039;s sleep, he wasn&039;t sure what he&039;d told the sby could take a one-sentence co off helping any further, due not so much to a pain in his shoulder as to a pain in the neck, and Grigsby had been disappointed but had vowed to get Effre on Friday

Matthealked home, was impressed by Hiram Stokely to sweep the pottery, and, as he felt it his duty to work for his lodging, he did the sweeping vigorously and without coht have been, for he had to continually dodge Cecily&039;s snorting round-rosies and snout-shoves to his knees until Stokely hadoutside at last Mattheas done and declared his intention to retire to his loft and catch a nap, though his progress up the ladder to the trapdoor was momentarily delayed while he assured the potter he wasn&039;t ill and did not need a doctor

In his room, Matthew opened theto allow the warm air exit, took off his coat and shirt, and applied yarrow oil to his right forear to have to do on Saturday wore him out He was a mental spirit, not a sportsh such labors that would never suit him were he to practice with a rapier ten hours a day for a month How did anyone ever learn to use a weapon like that, anywayi They had to start off with arms and constitutions like iron

I think you&039;ve let yourself go to rot, Hudson Greathouse had said

Little did he know, Matthew thought anyone could handle a sword if they were six-foot-three and constructed like a warship and a pistol could be aimed by any idiot, so as the pointi

You&039;rewords fro people around like a sandpit general! Damn him to blazes!