Midnight Jewels

from the market and another takes its place. They can't even write laws fast enough to make the new product illegal."
    Mercy stirred restlessly, wishing Gladstone would finish his gloating confrontation. She began prowling the vault again until she saw Croft eying her with faint disapproval.
    "I heard some of my followers claiming to have seen a specter that night of the fire," Gladstone went on thoughtfully. "Several panicked, you know. Many of them ran into the flames in a stupid attempt to rescue me or die with me. Such fools. Most of them were so far gone on drugs and hysteria they didn't know what they were doing. But I heard them shouting about a figure who kept appearing and disappearing in the shadows. They said you signaled them to join you."
    "Some of them did join me," Croft said.
    "What did you do with them?"
    "I sent them home."
    "How noble and generous. Were you well paid for your work that night, Falconer? Just a businessman's curiosity, you understand. I find myself wondering what sort of compensation a man in your unusual profession receives. It has just occurred to me that I will need a new chief of security after tonight. Miss Ascanius has not proven very useful in the final analysis. I should have known better than to rely on a beautiful woman, but I was initially impressed by her array of talents. She had acquired a great many skills, you see, in an effort to prove herself something more than just a lovely face. But in the end I'm afraid that was all she was. A pretty face. I shall now have to look elsewhere."
    "Believe me, Gladstone, you couldn't afford me."
    "I was afraid you might take that attitude. Well, it was just a thought. One last question or two, Mr. Falconer, and then I really must be going. How did you find me this time?"
    Croft didn't respond.
    Mercy remembered the microfilm she had mailed to herself and started to mention it to Croft in a whisper, but Gladstone was speaking again.
    "It was the book, wasn't it? Not many people could have traced me with only that damned book as a lead. Most people wouldn't have bothered to try because most people assumed I was dead. After three years who would have thought anyone would have noticed that book's reappearance? Or worried about the buyer who wanted to obtain it? I was sure it was safe to go after it. So very sure, and I wanted it badly."
    "Why?" Croft asked quietly. "What's in that book that made you risk exposing your new identity?"
    "The key to a great deal of power, Mr. Falconer. Without it, I would have had to spend far more money and time acquiring that power. Now I will have a shortcut. I find I can never get quite enough power. Isn't that strange? I have no trouble moderating my eating habits, drinking habits or my sexual needs. But when it comes to power I seem to be endlessly thirsty. Now that I have
Valley
back in my possession, I shall be able to try to satisfy that thirst."
    "How did
Valley
escape the flames that night, Graves?"
    "Believe me, I have given the matter a great deal of thought. I certainly had no time to get it from the library. I had my hands full saving my own neck. I imagine that one of my followers was not, after all, quite as naively enthralled with me as I had assumed. It must have been someone close to me, someone who suspected the importance of that particular book."
    "You can't trust anyone these days, can you?" Croft murmured.
    "Unfortunately, one must always have assistants when one conducts business on a vast scale. One such individual must have kept his or her head long enough to grab
Valley
from the library the night everything fell apart on the island. He escaped with it. But once he had the book, he apparently could not figure out its secret and eventually it got sold. Ultimately it wound up in a trunk full of bargain books. Probably sold for a fraction of its value. And then Miss Pennington found it and advertised it. An amusing trick of fate, eh, Falconer?"
    "There are no tricks of fate, only patterns that eventually form complete Circles."
    "You are an interesting man, Falconer. I would like to have spent more time discussing your unique brand of philosophy. But I don't have that luxury. I believe enough time has been spent on this little question and answer session. I must be going. I trust the two of you will enjoy your lingering demise within the vault. It will take a bit longer that way, of course. The air conditioning system will filter out some of the smoke for a while before it is