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

I don't remember exactly. P'tar'houn-Hoc said this person was giving speeches all the time, calling him
names and urging his destruction. Sorry, but I don't know any more than that."

"That's fine, it gives us a motive. We'll let it simmer for a moment while we concentrate on something else.
The murder scene. You said it was a smaller building behind his main house. What was it, a private office
or den or something?"

"Actually, a kitchen and eating area."

"I guess that makes sense. What was it like? Give me as much detail as you can."

"Not very large, sort of like the kitchen and dining area of a small efficiency flat. It was rectangular. The
walls were sea green, and there were pictures of food on them. There was a phone built into one wall so
he could conduct business while he ate. There was a countertop along one of the long walls with a small
sink and several cupboards underneath it for storing dishes and food. Against the opposite wall was a
small square table with two chairs. The counter and sink were to the left as you entered the room, the
table and chairs on the right. There was only the one door, and no windows. That's basically it. Very
simple."

"If it only were," Rabinowitz said with a sigh. "Okay, what normally happened when you visited him
there? You said you cooked him some meals."

"Prepared them," Dinh corrected. "I would add spices and things, but the K'tolu'tanou eat their food raw.
Bunches of things like kelp and lots of fish and hard-shelled little creatures. I think some of them may
have been alive, too. I hadn't had a chance to do much research yet, we were too busy talking about the
sinister social repression. Anyway, P'tar'houn-Hoc would sit at the table and eat what I prepared while I
stood beside the table and watched him. We would talk about my book, and how it would deal a
crushing blow to the enemies of social progress. I asked him questions about --"

"You stood beside the table? I thought you said there were two chairs. Weren't you allowed to sit in his
presence?"

"I don't think he would have minded -- but he always sat in the big chair and I couldn't fit in the smaller
one."

"A big chair and a small chair? What is this, `Goldilocks'?"

"The second chair was like a child's highchair. My body didn't fit in it. Do you think it's important?"

"I don't know. Did they rent you the wrong size body?"

"They said it was the only size they had, but it wouldn't fit in that chair. I didn't mind, since I was just
teeping. I could sit comfortably at home while the rented body was standing."

"Now think hard. Was there anything different about the room when you went there last night?"

"I didn't take much time to look around." Dinh closed her eyes to better visualize the scene. "The counter
and sink area looked the same. Both chairs had been tipped over, and P'tar'houn-Hoc was lying beside
his with the knife sticking in him. Now that I think of it, it was the same knife I used for cutting up kelp;
there were ceremonial engravings on the handle."