The Rithmatist

talked to Harding. I trust both men. What I really want is unbiased opinions. I need to know what is happening, and I can’t be everywhere. I’d like you to tell me about the things you’ve seen and done while working with Fitch.”
    And so, over the next hour, Joel did so. He talked about the census studies, his experience visiting the scene of Charles Calloway’s disappearance, and the things he’d read. York listened. As the hour progressed, Joel found his respect for the principal growing.
    York did care, and he was willing to listen to the opinions and thoughts of a simple, non-Rithmatic student. As Joel neared the end of his explanation, he tried to decide if he should mention his suspicions about Nalizar. He eyed the principal, who had gotten out his pen and had begun scribbling notes as Joel spoke.
    “All right,” York said, looking up. “Thank you, Joel. This is precisely what I needed.”
    “You’re welcome, sir,” Joel said. “But … well, there is one other thing.”
    “Yes?”
    “Sir,” Joel said. “I think Nalizar might have something to do with all of this.”
    York leaned in. “What makes you say that?”
    “Nothing really substantial,” Joel said. “Coincidences, really. Nalizar showing up when he did mixed with some of the things he’d done.”
    “Such as?”
    Joel flushed, realizing how foolish he sounded. He was sitting in the principal’s office, accusing one of the men York himself had hired.
    “I…” Joel said, his eyes dropping. “I’m sorry, sir. I spoke out of turn.”
    “No you didn’t. I’m suspicious of Nalizar too.”
    Joel looked up with a start.
    “I can’t decide,” York said, “if it’s simply my dislike of the man that is making me react this way, or if there is more. Nalizar has spent a lot of time in the office trying to find out more about the investigation. I keep asking myself if that’s because he wants to know how much we know, or if he’s just jealous.”
    “Jealous?”
    York nodded. “I don’t know if you realize this or not, but Professor Fitch is gaining quite a bit of notoriety. The press got hold of his name, and now he’s mentioned in nearly every article having to do with the disappearances. Apparently, he’s the federal inspectors’ ‘secret weapon against the kidnappers.’”
    “Wow,” Joel said.
    “Either way,” York continued, “I wish I’d never hired Nalizar. He has tenure, however, and firing him would be very difficult—and I really have no proof he is involved. So I ask again: What specifically makes you suspect him?”
    “Well,” Joel said, “do you remember what I told you about new Rithmatic lines? I saw Nalizar checking out a book from the library that was about new Rithmatic lines and their possible existence.”
    “Anything else?”
    “He left his building the other night,” Joel said. “The night Charles Calloway was kidnapped. I was out walking and saw him.”
    York rubbed his chin. “You’re right,” he said. “That’s hardly compelling evidence.”
    “Principal,” Joel said. “Do you know why Nalizar is even here? I mean, if he’s such a great hero at Nebrask, then why is he at a school teaching rather than fighting the wild chalklings?”
    York studied Joel for a few seconds.
    “Sir?” Joel finally asked.
    “I’m trying to decide if I should tell you or not,” the principal said. “To be honest, son, this is somewhat sensitive information.”
    “I can keep a secret.”
    “I don’t doubt that,” York said. “It’s still my responsibility to decide what I tell and what I don’t.” He tapped his fingers together. “There was an … incident at Nebrask.”
    “What kind of incident?”
    “The death of a Rithmatist,” York said. “Regardless of what many people here in the east claim, a death at Nebrask is always treated with solemnity by the war cabinet. In this case, there were lots of fingers pointed, and it was decided that some men—such as Nalizar—would be better off reassigned to nonactive duty.”
    “So he killed someone?”
    “No,” York said, “he was involved in an incident where a young Rithmatist was killed by the wild chalklings. Nalizar was never implicated, and shouldn’t have been, from what I read. When I interviewed him for his job here, Nalizar blamed political forces for trying to save their own hides from a blemish on their records. That sort of thing is common enough that I believed him. Still do, actually.”
    “But…”
    “But