"Jeffrey Lord - Blade 30 - Dimension Of Horror" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lord Jeffery)

candles in heavy bronze candleholders at intervals along a stout lengthy central table. Gesturing
toward the candles and fire, MacMurdo explained, "We make a virtue of necessity, so far as
lighting goes. The electricity here is none too reliable, particularly during a storm." He seated
himself at the head of the table. "There's just you and I here. The rest of the staff dined hours ago,
but I gather that's all to the good. Copra House gave me the impression you have some rather
confidential questions to ask me."

J sat down at his right. "Quite so, doctor."

"If some rascal claims we are mistreating the patients, I deny it categorically."

"Nothing like that. It's Dr. Saxton Colby I'm interested in." J picked up knife and fork.

"Ah, my scandalous predecessor!"

"Yes. Were you working here when he was in charge?"

"I was his administrative assistant. In military terms, I suppose you'd call me his second-in-
command."

"Then you knew him well."

MacMurdo chuckled. "I had no part in his off-duty peccadillos, if that's what you mean." He
began eating.

"Still, you might be able to tell me if he was involved in any way with witchcraft."

MacMurdo looked up sharply, then sat back with a sigh, chewing his food with the air of a
wistful cow. At last he said softly, "So you guessed it, eh? You're a clever bunch up at Copra
House. I should have known you'd keep rutting about until you came up with the whole truth. But
how did you know?"

"One of my associates, a certain Dr. Ferguson, noticed something odd."

"Ferguson. Of course. A good mind, though one cannot call him a gentleman. Those shirts . . ."
MacMurdo shuddered. "You see, we all know each other in the psychiatric fraternity. You've
heard the term 'global village'?"

"Please, doctor," J said gently. "Don't try to change the subject."
MacMurdo ran nervous fingers through his disheveled white hair. "Was old Colby involved in
witchcraft? Up to his neck, I should say." He took a hasty swallow of his dinner wine, as if to
bolster his courage.

"But when we were investigating him, you said nothing about it."

"No, I didn't. No one on the staff did. We get rather clannish up here all by ourselves, cut off
from the outside world. We protect each other as much as we can. It seemed to us Colby might
eventually live down a reputation as a swinging single, but a warlock is another matter. It's not an
image that inspires confidence."