Free A Borrowed Man by Gene Wolfe Page B

briar; he began to fill it, then laid it down. “I did not have that honor, I’m afraid. From the way you speak of him—from your tone…” He looked toward the bookcase. Only its lower shelves were protected by notint. “I take it that … I hope I’m wrong.…”
    Colette blotted her eyes.
    I nodded to Dr. Roglich. “He’s dead.”
    â€œThat’s what I meant by dancing around the subject.” Colette sighed. “My brother was murdered, Dr. Roglich. You could easily uncover that fact, and—and others. A thorough search might tell you that he’d been away from home for a day or two. It’s possible that it might not also tell you that he had gone to visit me in Spice Grove, but he had. His killer—”
    â€œOr killers,” I added. “We have reason to believe that there may have been more than one.”
    â€œHis killers or killer had broken into our childhood home and were waiting for him to come back. Or at least that’s how it seems. He did, and someone strangled him as soon as he walked in. A ’bot discovered his body in the front hallway. I’ve questioned it, but—”
    â€œIt never saw his murderer?” Dr. Roglich was trying to sound sympathetic.
    Colette shook her head. “His suitcase was nearby. Next to his body, I mean. It had been opened and searched. His body had been searched, too—that’s what the police say. I realize you don’t want to hear all this.”
    â€œI want to hear anything and everything you want to tell me,” Dr. Roglich said.
    â€œThank you.” Colette took a deep breath. “Please don’t think we’re meddlers, needlessly prying into your affairs, Doctor. That’s not it at all. But you’re an astrophysicist and my father consulted you. Will you tell us about it?”
    I said, “First, we’d like to know how he got in touch with you, and why. After that, well, he was a financier. What was it he wanted to know, and what was it you told him?”
    Dr. Roglich nodded absently. He was fumbling some mutated herb or other from the potbellied humidor on his desk into the bowl of his pipe. “Are you investigating his son’s death, Mr. Smithe?”
    â€œNo, that’s a job for the police. Perhaps they’ll be in touch with you, although it seems to me there’s no reason why they should.” I cleared my throat. “As Colette will confirm, her father’s business interests are being looked after by his executor. He is an attorney and presumably he can be relied upon to handle routine. However, there’s a great deal that neither he nor we understand. When Colette reaches thirty, everything will be turned over to her—stocks and bonds, a money market account, and various real estate holdings. Some of the things her father did, and some of the records that have turned up, seem inexplicable. I doubt that she and I will ever get to the bottom of everything. But total ignorance? That would invite disaster.”
    There was a second or two of silence before Colette said, “My late father was a financial genius, Dr. Roglich. I most certainly am nothing of the kind, but I’m not willing to admit that I’m incapable of comprehending what he did or why he did it.”
    Dr. Roglich nodded. “I understand. Furthermore, I agree. I can tell you what he wanted to know, but I have no idea why he wanted to know it. He was interested in the fundamental nature of space. Our physical universe exists in space. In that respect, it differs from all the others. Take the mathematical universe, for example. The ancient Greeks discovered that there was an invariable relationship between the diameter of a circle and its circumference. Please note that I did not say they invented it, I said that they discovered it. Was it their thinking about the possibility of such a relationship that brought the actual relationship into