'I heard that you have some very unusual ideas in Ephebe.'
'It had to happen,' said Pthagonal. He pulled a pair of dividers from the folds of his robe and measured the pie thoughtfully. 'Is it a constant, do you think? It's a depressing concept.'
'Sorry?' said Teppic.
'The diameter divides into the circumference, you know. It ought to be three times. You'd think so, wouldn't you? But does it? No. Three point one four one and lots of other figures. There's no end to the buggers. Do you know how pissed off that makes me?'
'I expect it makes you extremely pissed off,' said Teppic politely.
'Right. It tells me that the Creator used the wrong kind of circles. It's not even a proper number! I mean, three point five, you could respect. Or three point three. That'd look right.' He stared morosely at the pie.
t know how to tell you this, sir,' he said.
'Out with it, man.'
'Sir, they say he's dead, sir. They say he killed himself and ran away.
'Killed himself?'
'Sorry, sir.'
'And ran away afterwards?'
'On a camel, they say.'
'We lead an active afterlife in our family, don't we?' observed the king dryly.
'Beg pardon, sir?'
'I mean, the two statements could be held to be mutually exclusive.'
Dil's face became a well-meaning blank.
'That is to say, they can't both be true,' supplied the king, helpfully.
'Ahem,' said Dil.
'Yes, but I'm a special case,' said the king testily. 'In this kingdom we believe you live after death only if you've been mumm-'
He stopped.
It was too horrible to think about. He thought about it, nevertheless, for some time.
Then he said, 'We must do something about it.'
Dil said, 'Your son, sir?'
'Never mind about my son, he's not dead, I'd know about it,' snapped the king. 'He can look after himself, he's my son. It's my ancestors I'm worried about.'
'But they're dead-' Dil began.
It has already been remarked that Dil had a very poor imagination. In a job like his a poor imagination was essential. But his mind's eye opened on a panorama of pyramids, stretching along the river, and his mind's ear swooped and curved through solid doors that no thief could penetrate.
And it heard the scrabbling.
And it heard the hammering.
And it heard the muffled shouting.