Fred Tells Some More of the Truth

"My employers noticed that she wore a bracelet. They thought that it might be valuable. Should they have taken it from her, then if your story were to be true they would have had a shock. So in theory I could test the truth of your story by removing it, but only at the expense of annoying my employers and you, since you both intend to make some money out of her. How far back through time would she go?"

"A week."

"Not very far, then. It occurs to me that there would be no way of keeping her here permanently, unless her hands are kept bound or the bracelet is welded shut to prevent her from taking it off."

"It is supposed to tighten over time, and to become dangerously tight after another week from now."

"Surely all it could do would be to cut off circulation to her hand? That would be very unpleasant, and she'd lose the use of the hand, but it shouldn't be life-threatening."

1. Fred was beginning to get impatient with the discussion. "Will you let me see her?" he asked. "I need to be sure that you have her, before I can enter into negotiations with her family."
2. A male voice called from several stalls down: "I need some more water, Hartley." Fred guessed that it must be Horace.

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