Free Lurulu by Jack Vance

pantaloons tied at the knee, black stockings and long pointed shoes.
    Jodel spoke with careful deference. “Allow me to make introductions.” He tapped each Krenk on the shoulder in turn. “This is Derl Mone. This is Avern Glister. This is Madrig Cargus.” With a sheepish grin he looked sidewise at Maloof. “I fear that I have forgotten your names.”
    “No matter. I am Adair Maloof; this is Myron Tany. We both serve aboard the ship Glicca , now at the Coro-Coro spaceport. What do you wish of us?”
    Derl Mone spoke, his voice rasping with the effort to maintain civility. “You have taken an unusual interest in a certain Orlo Cavke. As you may have discovered, he is a criminal who escaped our justice. We are anxious to repair our mistake.”
    “I understand your concern,” said Maloof. “Last night we learned more about Orlo Cavke — Loy Tremaine, as we knew him — than we had ever suspected.”
    As before, Mone controlled his voice with an effort. “Why do you believe that Cavke has returned to Fluter?”
    “I first encountered Loy Tremaine at Traven on Morlock,” answered Maloof. “I noticed a tattoo on his neck which later proved to be the Krenke emblem. He spoke of Fluter with emotion and declared it to be the most beautiful world of the Reach; he spoke of returning as soon as some problems with the Civil Agents could be adjusted, which I assumed meant a donation to their Beneficial Fund: in short, a bribe.”
    “That is possible, so I believe,” said Cargus.
    “First, he killed my father, so that my mother should control the family fortune. But my father, before his death, had placed his entire estate into a trust fund, with a moderate annuity to be paid to my mother; by this means he hoped to curb her extravagance. Naturally, she kept the new situation secret from Tremaine. He plied her with all his magnetism and induced the foolish old lady to go away with him to the far worlds of romance and wonder, and so they were gone. When Tremaine finally learned the truth of my mother’s annuity, he must have suffered a terrible shock. We arrived at Coro-Coro aboard the Glicca two days ago, conferred with the local IPCC agent and learned several facts. Tremaine had indeed returned to Fluter. The proof was definite. A master tattoo artist had altered Tremaine’s Krenke tattoo to a Coro-Coro sunburst; however he was not residing in Coro-Coro. I theorized that he might have taken refuge at Krenke, and that is why we are here. My theory I now understand to be preposterous.”
    Mone made an ambiguous sound, then asked: “So, what will you do now?”
    “At the moment we have not so much as a clue to where he is keeping himself and my mother. Still, I am sure that we will find him, probably by tracing my mother’s annuity. If she were not receiving this money, he would have abandoned her; the foolish old lady certainly cannot be an exciting companion.”
    Mone made a grim sound. “Orlo’s inclinations take him differently — toward innocent pretty little creatures, hardly more than children. First he took Lally Glister and led her to a forest den, where he did incredible things to her. When she died, he buried her under the mould. After a time, he stole my girl Murs, and followed the same procedure. By this time the village was wild with horror and no one raged more wildly than Orlo Cavke. After a time, he laid in wait for Salu Cargus, and what he did to her is beyond belief! But he had become careless. The farm-boy Tinnoc, who worked a plot close by Orlo’s planting, noticed Orlo’s absences when he should have been tending his crops. But there was no sign of tillage and the weeds were rampant. Tinnoc told us of his suspicions, and we put a tracer button in Orlo’s shoe, which allowed us to track him to his den. We unearthed the things from under the mould which once had been our daughters, and looked to Orlo for explanation. He merely smiled and shrugged. We dragged him back to the village and loaded him