mention of the location or the time at which the research was conducted. Even the people carrying out the experiments are described solely by their initials.’
‘It’s hard to look for anything if you don’t know where to start.’
‘Yes, though I don’t know if, on this particular matter, anyone would even want to try to uncover the truth.’ Veson shook his head gloomily. ‘No, there are things that should remain buried by history.’
‘And yet your fascination with the manuscript contradicts that.’
‘I didn’t realise straight away what I was actually dealing with.’ The As drank his cold tea without a second thought. ‘At first, I thought some sort of disaster had occurred, perhaps one of the ancient artefacts had been damaged… It was only the smudged notes in the margins that made it clear what I was trying to grapple with. I’ll never forget that one sentence: I’ve never seen so much distortion before, and I never want to see it again.’ A wry smile twisted the Count’s lips. ‘The destruction of the book may not have been an accident; perhaps Nikos himself brought it about… We’ll never know.’
‘I suspect the book is well secured.’ Darius didn’t need to ask. Regardless of who had asked for help in assessing the work’s authenticity, once its contents became known, there was nothing else to do but destroy it, or at the very least hide it well.
‘It has been handed over to the relevant authorities.’ Veson gave a brief nod.
‘Then please get to the point.’ Bleist had already learnt more than he wanted to, and he suspected this was by no means the end of the information he would rather not have heard.
‘The cadet who was injured in the accident… The catalyst drained his life force.’ The As stopped beating about the bush. ‘And the manuscript contained, amongst other things, this.’ He pulled a few folded sheets of paper from his inside pocket, laid them on the tabletop and slid them towards Darius. ‘Several similar cases and descriptions of the treatments used.’
Earl picked up the papers
