Free The Gist Hunter by Matthews Hughes Page B

price," I said, but I decided not to pick the fruit.
    I arrived at the front doors to find another bell and clapper. This one summoned a stooped, cadaverous fellow in black and burgundy livery, his skull encased in a headdress fashioned from thick cloth folded in a complicated fashion. "The master is not at home," he said in a voice as light and dry as last year's leaves.
    "Of course he is," I said. "But it is not Lord Tussant whom I have come to see."
    "Then whom?" said the butler.
    "Sigbart Sajessarian."
    "I do not recognize the name."
    "Yes, you do," I answered, brushing past him into the manse's foyer, "for it is your own."
    "How did you know where to look?" Sajessarian asked. We had repaired to a sitting room deeper inside the crumbling manor where a blaze in a fireplace struggled to overcome the damp and gloom. He had disengaged the device that cloaked his appearance in a projected image and distorted his voice.
    "I do not reveal my methods," I said. "Put it down to insight and analysis."
    In truth, it had not been difficult. Sajessarian was devious but not original. He would not trust in the simplicity of hiding in plain sight, and his attempts to mislead by booking passage on three separate space liners outbound to the human settled worlds along The Spray were complex but easily discounted. I simply tasked my assistant with searching his background for the most obscure connections. Within moments it had uncovered a third cousin twice removed who, some years back, had supplied Lord Tussant with biotic specimens. Having tenuously linked the fugitive to The Hands, it took only a brief consideration of vehicle movements in the area to discover that an unlicensed aircar had moved through an adjacent town's airspace before passing out of range of the municipal scan. My suppositions were confirmed when the gardener failed to answer the outer bell.
    "Where are the real servants?" I inquired.
    "In their quarters," he said. "Both have a fondness for the fruits of the garden and normally lie insensible from dusk to dawn. I merely increased the dosage."
    "And Lord Tussant himself?"
    "He lies insensible almost all of the time. His fondness for a cocktail of soporific juices laced with tickleberries knows no bounds."
    I rubbed my hands and extended them to the fire. "Well," I said, "there remains only the fee."
    "I will fetch it," he said. "Indeed, I will double the amount if while I am bringing it you would design an escape plan that would stymie even Henghis Hapthorn for more than three days."
    It was an interesting challenge. What would fool me? I agreed to his request, and gave the matter several seconds thought after he departed. When I had conceived a stratagem I had my assistant embellish it with some loops and diversions, then I called for a display of the Will scenarios. I was contemplating a promising permutation of plods, fast-darters and sideslips when Sajessarian returned with a heavy satchel. He took it to a table, opened it and began to dispense stacks of currency, counting as he did so.
    My mind was still weighing and discarding options for the game of Will as I said, "I have come up with an escape course that would baffle even me, at least for a time."
    He expressed interest so I outlined the gist of it and the nature of the distractions. "It's a subtle variation on the classic runaround, with a reverse twist."
    "Magnificent." He continued to lay out the funds. Then he said, "The fire dwindles. Would you reset the flux control?"
    My mind still on Will, I reached and pressed the flux modulator. As I did so, I heard Sigbart Sajessarian say, "It is indeed a fine plan." He went on to say, "But I have a better." These last words came from a distance because the floor had opened beneath me, plunging me into darkness and the rush of cold air.
    "Obviously, such was his plan from the beginning," my assistant said.
    "Obvious now," I said. "I do not recall your bringing it up until just this moment."
    "If you hadn't been so