Shed's nerves twisted as tight as a bowstring. Something was wrong. They had caught on. "As you wish, Reverend Sir." He dragged over and collected his own mug. It was dusty. He had not done much drinking lately, afraid his tongue would wag.

"Sit down. And wipe the scowl off your face. You haven't done anything. Have you? I don't even know your name."

"Shed, Reverend Sir. Marron Shed. The Iron Lily has been in my family for three generations.''

"Admirable. A place with tradition. Tradition is falling by the wayside nowadays."

"As you say, Reverend Sir."

"I guess our reputation has preceded me. Won't you calm down?"

"How may I help you, Reverend Sir?"

"I'm looking for a man named Asa. I hear he was a regular here."

"So he was, sir," Shed admitted. "I knew him well. A lazy wastrel. Hated honest work. Never a copper to his name, either. Yet he was a friend, after his fashion, and generous in his way. I let him sleep on the common room floor during the winter, because in the days of my hardship he never failed to bring wood for the fire."

The Inquisitor nodded. Shed decided to tell most of the truth. He could not hurt Asa. Asa was beyond the reach of

The Custodians.

"Do you know where he acquired the wood?"

Shed pretended acute embarrassment. "He collected itin the Enclosure, Reverend Sir. I debated with myself about using it. It wasn't against the law. But it seemed reprehensible anyway." The Inquisitor smiled and nodded. "No failing on your part, Marron Shed. The Brotherhood doesn't discourage gleaning. It keeps the Enclosure from becoming too seedy."

"Why are you looking for Asa, then?"

"I understand he worked for a man named Krage."

"Sort of. For a while. He thought he was king of the Buskin when Krage took him on. Strutting and bragging. But it didn't last."

"So I heard. It's the timing of their falling-out that intrigues me."

"Sir?"

"Krage and some of his friends disappeared. So did Asa, about the same time. And all of them vanished soon after somebody got into the Catacombs and looted several thousand passage urns."

Shed tried to look properly horrified. "Krage and Asa did that?"

"Possibly. This Asa started spending old money after he began gleaning in the Enclosure. Our investigations suggest he was petty at his grandest. We think he pilfered a few urns each time he gathered wood. Krage may have found out and decided to plunder in a big way. Their falling-out may have been over that. Assuming Asa had any conscience."