He had not checked the sealskin coat that Brux had been wearing last night. It was thrown over another chair in the bedroom. He picked it up and found it equally as heavy as the polar bear monstrosity. There was an object in one of the inside breast pockets. A powder-blue purse came to hand. Undoing the three brass buttons that secured it, Matthew cast his eyes upon a trove of coins both gold and silver. He angled the contents toward the light and made out a wealth of gold guineas and sovereigns, also a few shillings and some coins that appeared to be of Prussian mintage. Matthew had no idea how much all of it was worth, but it was clear that the count and the baron had come loaded for bear. Or, at least, a bearlike admiral of the Royal Navy.

He was still going through the luggage and sorting out the various articles of clothing when he heard a tapping at the door. He unlatched and opened it to Julian, whose newly shaven face was ruddy with the cold. There was another difference about him, as well; a few paces into the room, he removed his tricorn and displayed his perfectly bald head.

“Lock up again,” he instructed before Matthew could speak. When it was done, Julian sent his tricorn spinning away upon the sofa. “How do you like the first step in the trans-formation from Devane to Pellegar?”

“Delightful,” said Matthew. “Doubly cold up there, I’d think.”

“I found a barber open early, he did the chore. Have you put the corpses in the fireplace and burned them up yet?”

“Uh … no, I was going to do that after I’d had a bite to eat.”

“Well, say no more!” Julian reached into his cloak and brought out an object wrapped up in waxed paper. He offered it to Matthew. “A bakery was also open. A piece of raisin cake, specialty of the day.”

“Much appreciated,” Matthew said as he took what might be meager replenishment, but welcome all the same. “I presume you’ve already eaten breakfast?”

“A tavern around the corner serves very excellent beef hash and eggs. I deserved something substantial after having my head scraped.”

“I might deserve a trip to that tavern for what I’ve found. Look here.” While he ate the raisin cake, Matthew first showed Julian Brux’s purse with all the money, and then he brought the diagrams out of the satchel. “What do you make of those?”

“Plans drawn up by a lunatic, it looks to me,” Julian said after surveying all five of the sheets. “The measurements are … twenty feet in length? And the wing span forty feet? Of what purpose could this be?”