"Was it one of these two humans?" he asked, pointing simultaneously at both of the accused.

The elemental's unblinking eyes rolled in their sockets to stare at the closest of the red-haired women. The ground under her feet bulged then subsided.

"Thaaat… one."

Slowly, the eyes ground in the other direction, and the ground bulged under the second imprisoned woman.

"And… thaaat… one."

"Just as I said!" Ptack exclaimed.

Behind the floating lenses, his eyes swiveled briefly to gauge Andoris's reaction to the testimony-but only briefly. Sweat was running down his temples from the strain of holding the massive elemental inside the earth.

Andoris leaned forward on his chair. The elemental's eyes were slowly rolling back and forth, grinding softly in their sockets.

"Which one is the thief?" he asked.

A heat haze shimmered in the air above the elemental's mouth as it licked its lips with a tongue of molten lava.

"They… taste… saaame."

"Did both of them enter your master's laboratory?"

The floor trembled, forcing Ptack to catch his balance, as the elemental slowly shook its head. On the walls above, some of the spectators who had been drawn back by curiosity disappeared again.

"Juuust… one."

"Can you tell which one?" Andoris asked. "Nooo."

Ptack, sweating more profusely now, shrugged a shoulder to wipe a trickle of sweat from his temple, but kept his palms motionless over the elemental.

"Blamira knew about the elemental," he said, "yet she had the audacity to steal my notes, despite the fact that she was being watched. She must have counted on Went- on this court being too timid to hear its testimony."

"When did the elemental alert you to the theft?" Andoris asked.

"Immediately," Ptack said. "Unfortunately, Blamira had already fled with my notes." Andoris glanced at the two accused-both of whom