“If that’s when it happened, that’s good, isn’t—”
“You have interrupted me again, Lodie.” IT sighed elaborately. “Yes. The later the better, although the urgency has hardly diminished. Master Robbie, your request to see the Replica again brought the theft to light. We may assume that the thief, or thieves—”
“Thieves, Masteress?”
“I will get to that, Lodie. The thief—or thieves—is alarmed, and frightened people may be deadly. Be sure to tell the high brunka that. Say deadly.”
She reminded IT, “Thieves?”
“A single thief may have done it. A pair would be more certain of success. The bees know Johan-bee’s routine, and the guests and the barber-surgeon do as well, do they not, Master Robbie?”
He nodded.
“When Johan-bee has left for the privy . . . But how does the thief know the precise moment he leaves? Although Ursa-bee said he often goes shortly before the end of a watch, this would have to be timed with exactitude.”
“The thief is nearby, listening?” Master Robbie suggested. “Johan-bee has a heavy step.”
“And the rushes make noise when anyone but a brunka walks.”
“True. The wretch places the handkerchief’s box in one of these rooms, most likely this one . . .”—IT tapped a room on Master Robbie’s map—“concealed in some way. The thief opens the box and touches the handkerchief. The weeping begins, but softly, allowing him or her time to exit, leaving the door a little ajar so the weeping may be heard. The villain rushes along this route”—a talon traced a path along the corridor that ran parallel to the one that led to the high brunka’s room—“passes the closed door of the garderobe, turns right, then left. The way is long but achievable. He or she hastens through the high brunka’s chamber into the storage room and waits for Johan-bee and Ursa-bee to come and go. The scoundrel then takes the Replica and exits through the storage room door to the corridor. If someone is in the corridor, the scheme fails. But the corridor is rarely traveled. The risk is small. The thief then retrieves the handkerchief and spirits it away, I know not where.”
“Oh,” Master Robbie breathed. “I can picture it.”
“But,” Elodie said, “if Johan-bee is quicker than usual, the villain is caught. I see why two are better.” With mounting excitement, she continued. “If the thief has a partner, the first thief can put the handkerchief here”—she touched a different room—“and turn into one of these side passageways. Thief two can wait here.” She pointed at the corridor IT had said the thief would have to dash through, near the turn that led to the privy. “Thief two—”
Master Robbie broke in. “Thief two has a shorter distance to travel to reach the high brunka’s room. But who are they?”
IT blew gray smoke. “Everyone has a motive to steal an item that is worth a great deal. Even the already rich are not exempt; they may want more. I am at a loss.”
Elodie had never heard IT say such a thing before.
“When you return, do not waste your energy searching shelves and cabinets. Let others do it, because it must be done, but these thieves are too cunning to have hidden the Replica there. Why is that? Think, Lodie! Think, Master Robbie!”
His face wore a strained look, which Elodie recognized.
Think! she thought. Prove I have an original mind, too! Ah. “Because the thieves couldn’t guess where the searchers would look first. Anyone might stumble on the Replica just by luck.”
“Excellent, Elodie.”
Elodie!
“But . . .” Master Robbie hesitated. “If it isn’t in the Oase, where is it? Outside is big.”
“Indeed. I do not say the Replica is outside. It is equally likely to be in or out, but we will find it most quickly through reason. Continue to deduce and induce and use your common sense, both of you. The thieves and the hiding place are twined together. We have uncovered the method. The motive is greed.”
Quoting the puppet, Elodie said, “‘Expectation misleads.’ Perhaps the motive isn’t greed. Maybe there’s another explanation.” She felt silly. “Something inside the Replica? Something it can do?”
IT lifted ITself off ITs belly. “Doubtful. Lacking in common sense.”
Elodie blushed.
“But there may be an additional motive: rage, for example. Dror-bee has reason to be angry at his family for sending him away. Mistress Sirka may be angry, too. Her beloved is a bee because of the family. I suspect the two of a connection before they arrived here. Neither, however, professes to know where the Replica was kept nor has the means to purchase the information. Nonetheless, they are still possible thieves.”
Elodie asked, “Do we know what people did after Ursa-bee and Johan-bee’s watch and before the blizzard?”