Even with her face scarred by tears she looked lovely. From the earliest years of their marriage, her husband had been high in the Civil Service and able to buy her beauty treatments. "Mylady," Sordman said, "I need your help for two things. We want to know who you think wanted to kill your husband. And we need your want." "Our want?" her son asked. He stood rigidly beside his mother's chair. His clothes were rich and formal tweed. "Do you want to find the killer?" The boy nodded soberly. "The moment I heard of his murder, I promised to avenge him." "John!" His mother trembled. "You were raised to be a Christian!" Sordman said, "I want to locate the image I think was used to kill him. For that I want to hook your strong desires into my thoughts. You won't know I'm doing it. But if you're near me, I'll use your emotions." "Your husband was a very important man," Lee said. "Would anyone gain by his death?" "Everyone liked my husband. He was always laughing, he--" The old-young woman started crying. Her son put his arm around her shoulders. * * * * * Sordman felt her pain and winced. Death and pain were part of Creation, but he hated them and often cursed them. At times like these, he understood George's skepticism. The boy said, "Manager Kurt didn't like him." Mylady stifled her sobs and sat up. "Manager Kurt has been our guest every month. Protector, John's upset. He's talking wildly." "Father told me. He said Manager Kurt didn't like him." "Your father and the Manager were good friends." He felt a sudden resentment in the woman. Why? The boy didn't feel as if he was lying. Maybe Esponito had been the kind of man who didn't talk about his job with his wife. But his son--who would some day be a member of his father's class--would have received a certain amount of practical advice. Perhaps Mylady resented being left out of her husband's professional life. That was a common family pattern, after all. George felt impatient. Sordman shot him a questioning glance. "Where does Manager Kurt live?" "In Baltimore," the boy said. "Mylady, may we use your phone?" "You don't take John seriously?" Mylady said. "We'll have to ask the Baltimore police to check on the Manager. It may not mean anything, but we have to follow every lead." "Use the phone, Protector." Sordman and George stepped into the dining room. "We're wasting time," George said. "They're both upset and there seems to be a family quarrel." "I know. But Esponito's murder gives us more leads than Bedler's. Bedler didn't even have a one-month wife when he died. Lots of people knew the Administrator and might have had a grudge against him." George clasped his hands behind his back. "We've unraveled twenty-three murders in the last four years. Judging by that experience, I'd say there are three possibilities: both victims were picked at random; both victims are in some way related; or one victim was killed to confuse the police."