"Stephen Goldin - The Sword Unswayed" - читать интересную книгу автора (Goldin Stephen)

way, it was to throw him in a pot of boiling water and melt some butter when he was done. He stimulated
me intellectually, yes, but that is all. We had many exciting conversations about the repressive nature of
K'tolu'tan society --"

"I'll bet you did. Is that what led to this charge of perversion they've got against you?"

"We never did anything," Dinh protested. "If my book had been written and published, it would certainly
have perverted the common morality -- but it never was."

"All you ever did was talk?"

"I prepared a few meals for him. He found that stimulating."

"Oh, I'll bet he did. You indulged his unique and culturally twisted fantasies --"

"They weren't unique. There is a worldwide underground society devoted to public eating.
P'tar'houn-Hoc was one of its leading members. So was his assistant, F'tim-Saa."

"The plot thickens. You were involved with the local Hellfire Club."

"You make it sound so childish. There was a time you would have thought it was noble."

"Probably, in some distant epoch."

"Even if all you're thinking is true, I would have no reason to kill him. We held the same values, and he
was commissioning a book from me. Surely you don't think I'd kill anyone."

"Not the Bian I knew in college," Rabinowitz admitted. "You might harangue someone to death, but that
would be suicide if they stayed to listen. No, I don't think you could take a knife and stab someone. But
somebody did kill him, and you're conveniently far enough away to make a wonderful scapegoat. People
love to blame aliens when things go wrong."

"That reminds me of our march to protest the treatment of the Kaliwwan. Do you remember -- ?"

"Yes I do, and I'm proud I was part of it, but it has nothing to do with the case at hand. You said the
door was locked when you got there. Do you know who else had passcodes?"

"No, I don't. His family probably did, but there could have been other people."

"Other members of his secret society?"

"Possibly. I didn't really meet any of them except his assistant. But the door locked when it closed. The
killer could have been invited in there, killed P'tar'houn-Hoc and left, and the door would have closed
behind him. He didn't need a passcode."

Rabinowitz decided to try another avenue. "Did he have any enemies?"
"We both spent much time condemning the forces of conservatism and repression, but he only mentioned
one specific name, someone who was a bastion of hypocritical public morality."

Dinh closed her eyes and tried to think. "What was the name? It sounded something like `cantaloupe,' but