willing to appear -in court without those four amulets you're wearing, and without the shawl with the hexes sewn in?"
"I don't have to sit here and..."
Alvin leaned over and tugged at Verily's coattail. Verily wanted to ignore him, because he knew that Alvin was going to forbid him to pursue this line any further. But there was no way he could pretend that he didn't notice a movement so broad that the whole court saw it. He turned back to Alvin, ignoring Vilate's remonstrances, and let Alvin whisper in his ear.
"Verily, you know I didn't want - "
"My duty is to defend you as best I - "
"Verily, ask her about the salamander in her handbag. Get it out in the open if you can."
Verily was surprised; "A salamander? But what good will that do?"
"Just get it out in the open," said Alvin. "On a table in the open. It won't run away. Even with the Unmaker possessing it, salamanders are still stupid. You'll see."
Verily turned back to face the witness. "Miss Franker, will you kindly show us the lizard in your handbag?"
Alvin tugged on his coat again. Mouth to ear, he whispered,
"Salamanders ain't lizards. They're amphibians, not reptiles."
"Your pardon, Miss Franker. Not a lizard. An amphibian. A salamander."
"I have no such - "
"Your Honor, please warn the witness about the consequences of lying under - "
"If there's such a creature in my handbag, I don't have any idea who put it there or how it got there," said Vilate.
"Then you won't object if the bailiff looks in your bag and removes any amphibious creatures he might find?"
Overcoming her uncertainty, Vilate replied, "No, not at all."
"Your Honor, who is on trial here?" asked Marty Laws.
"I believe the issue is truthfulness," said the judge, "and I find this exercise fascinating. We've watched you come up with scandal. Now I'll be interested to see an amphibian."
The bailiff rummaged through the handbag, then suddenly hooted and jumped back. "Excuse me, Your Honor, it's up my sleeve!" he said, trying to maintain his composure as he wriggled and danced around.
With a flamboyant gesture, Verily swept his papers off the defense table and pulled it out into the middle of the courtroom. "When you retrieve the little fellow," he said, "set him here, please."
Alvin leaned back on his chair, his legs extended, his ankles crossed, looking for all the world like a politician who just won an election. Under his chair, the plow lay still inside its sack.
Alone of all the people in the court, Vilate paid no attention whatever to the salamander. She simply sat as if in a trance; but no, that wasn't it. No, she sat as if she were at a soiree where something slightly rude was being said, and she was pretending to take no notice of it.
Verily had no idea what would come of this business with the salamander, but since Alvin wouldn't let him try any other avenue to discredit Vilate or Amy, he'd have to make it do.
* * *
Alvin had been watching Vilate during her testimony - watching close, not just with his eyes, but with his inner sight, seeing the way the material world worked together. One of the first things he marked was the way Vilate cocked her head just a little before answering. As if she were listening. So he sent out his doodlebug and let it rest in the air, feeling for any tremors of sound. Sure enough, there were some, but in a pattern Alvin had never seen before. Usually, sound spread out from its source like waves from a rock cast into a pond, in every direction, bouncing and reverberating, but also fading and growing weaker with distance. This sound, however, was channeled. How was it done?
For a while he was in danger of becoming so engrossed in the scientific question that he might well forget that he was on trial here and this was the most dangerous but possibly the weakest witness against him. Fortunately, he caught on to what was happening very quickly. The sound was coming from two sources, very close together, moving in parallel. As the sound waves crossed each other, they interfered with each other, turning the sound into mere turbulence in the air. When Alvin listened closely, he could hear the faint hiss of the chaotic noise. But in the direction where the sound waves were perfectly parallel, they not only didn't interfere with each other, but rather seemed to increase the power