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‘Two things,’ Vale said ‘Firstly, the tiht after the airships arrived in convoy from Liechtenstein I do not think that I need to remind you about that’ He looked up froers ‘And secondly’ He hesitated again before continuing ‘My family was involved with a certain society, and they believe it was connected with the loss of their book The sa very careful not to name that society, Mr Vale,’ Irene commented

‘Indeed I am,’ Vale said

‘Are they connected to the Fair Folk?’ she probed

Vale laughed, a surprised bark of a laugh ‘My dear Miss Winters! Show me a society that isn’t connected to the Fair Folk I suppose you could say no more than most of them’

‘And its connection to Liechtenstein?’ she continued

‘Ah Now here we come to the nub of the problem’ Vale frowned ‘I should probably have offered you tea I do apologize I always forget that sort of thing But in any case, from what I’ve heard, the Liechtenstein Fair Folk are very definitely not affiliated with – well, let us call them the Society So the Aeted in this way, is notable for its ti’

‘You think he caused the explosion?’ Kai asked ‘Or the Society? Or were they the targets of the explosion?’

‘Possible’ Vale waved a hand ‘Possible Certainly it is worthy of further investigation And now, Miss Winters, Mr Strongrock, since I have done my part and told you why I am involved in all of this, I ask you to do the same’ He leaned forward in his chair, his eyes hooded, and Irene wondered how much of what he’d said had been a carefully constructed bluff TrustReally I have Now it’s your turn ‘If we are to progress, then there ood hand before Kai could speak ‘Before that, Mr Vale, I’d like the answer to one more question’

‘Within reason, I am at your disposal,’ Vale said

‘Why do you feel that you can trust us?’ she asked Certainly she’d like to cooperate with hiht even make success in this mission possible, as opposed to out of the question But it ht even be Alberich How could she tell? The very thought e again

‘That is a fair question,’ Vale allowed ‘I will be honest with you I do have a few gifts froe One of thenostication, but an ability to tell when so to be ie in a nuh I do not discuss it with the public When I rock the other day, I knew, in a hich I fear I cannot describe to you, that he was going to be closely involved withyou, Miss Winters On assessment of your characters, I choose to assume that you will be my allies rather than lanced at Kai for a ed neutrally But it wasn’t as if it was his decision, in any case; this wasn’t a democracy and he wasn’t an equal partner The decision, the risks and the potential for disaster were all hers

Vale’s story hung together and made sense, which was more than one could usually expect of events More than that, Irene had the feeling that she could trust him She wanted to trust him (Should that in itselfthat said they had to tell hile mission, after all They could leave this entire alternate behind them, and he’d have no way to follow them There wouldn’t be any repercussions afterwards And, well – if he had been Alberich, then they’d already be dead Just like Dominic Aubrey

She ood hand ‘Mr Vale, I arateful for what you have said I believe we can cooperate’

Vale smiled briefly, and clasped her hand ‘Thank you Then perhaps you can tell lanced at Kai ‘You have already lish’

‘Indeed not,’ Vale said crisply ‘Nor are you Canadians’

‘Ah,’ Irene said, and quickly rephrased her next statement ‘We are representatives of – a Society You will understand if we don’t name it, I hope’

Vale’s sood intentions, that will be sufficient’

‘I can vouch for its non-interference,’ Irene said scrupulously ‘We’re after one thing: the book that was stolen from Lord Wyndha it,’ well, that would have been one option, ‘only to find the man, ah, vampire, murdered, and the book stolen Noant to recover it If together we can discover the truth behind the book thefts, the murder, and the explosion, well, that would surely be the best of all possible ends’ And, she thought privately, the Library ht be interested in those other books as well Except for the one froive back, and he’d appreciate it

‘And your eneed hand

‘We only have his naive that ‘Alberich’