“I have? And how, may I ask?” Duke Harald spoke calmly, striving to keep mind and voice and features under such control that even the control itself would not be noticed.
“You do not recognize this, then?”
“Only as a Sonotec unit. Why?”
“I see,” said Master Elwyn, slowly. And inwardly, Duke Harald tensed. He knew that, by the Rule of Privacy, the adept could not read his mind without consent. But still—that Sonotec was his, despite his bland denial; and the Terran obviously guessed as much. Were there, he wondered, any limitations to the Rule? In short, were his thoughts being scanned?
Apparently not.
“Let us,” Master Elwyn was saying quietly, “consider this small device.” He touched the broken Sonotec negligently with one finger. “Its presence in this office was detected only yesterday. The implications of that fact are—serious.”
“Serious? In what way?” Duke Harald asked. Then, allowing a measure of indignation to warm his tones, “And what connection do you fancy that I have with this?”
“The Sonotec beam was traced. To a certain hotel in this city. Before investigators could arrive, however, two men left hurriedly and have not since been found.”
“Well?”
“One of those men, it turns out, may have come from Arkady.”