The Bitter End (short story)
Encyclopedia
The Bitter End is a short story by Randall Garrett
featuring his alternate history
detective
Lord Darcy and magician Master Sean. It was first published in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine and has been included in the second edition of the collection Lord Darcy
.
The Lord Darcy stories are set in an alternate world whose history supposedly diverged from our own during the reign of King Richard the Lionheart
, in which King John
never reigned. Most of Western Europe and the Americas are united in an Angevin Empire
whose continental possessions were never lost by that king. In this world, a magic-based technology has developed in place of the science of our own world.
on a mission to collect evidence for an impending court case. While he takes a break in a hotel bar, a man in a booth is found to have mysteriously died. The police soon arrive, in the shape of bumbling but tenacious Sergeant Cougair Chasseur, for whom Sean casts a preservation spell over the deceased's body until a post mortem can be conducted. But Sean is flabbergasted to be named as a possible murder suspect by Chasseur, who distrusts magic and follows the theory of 'least likely suspect'.
Sean is eventually exonerated and able to investigate the circumstances of the death of the man, identified as a retired officer of the Imperial Legion, formerly stationed in Mechicoe (Mexico). He discovers that the deceased has been poisoned whilst drinking Popacotapetl, a very sweet liqueur
made in Mechicoe, which has been laced with a bitter poison made from coyotl weed. However, he had been treated with a spell by a Healer, after which all drugs – including the one he is taking for malaria – taste sweet to him.
Eventually, the victim's wife, a much younger woman of Mechicain descent and who is conducting an illicit affair with a liqueur merchant, is unmasked.
Randall Garrett
Randall Garrett was an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was a prolific contributor to Astounding and other science fiction magazines of the 1950s and 1960s...
featuring his alternate history
Alternate history (fiction)
Alternate history or alternative history is a genre of fiction consisting of stories that are set in worlds in which history has diverged from the actual history of the world. It can be variously seen as a sub-genre of literary fiction, science fiction, and historical fiction; different alternate...
detective
Detective
A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...
Lord Darcy and magician Master Sean. It was first published in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine and has been included in the second edition of the collection Lord Darcy
Lord Darcy (omnibus)
Lord Darcy is a 1983 omnibus collection of two previous fantasy collections and one fantasy novel by Randall Garrett featuring his alternate history detective Lord Darcy, published by Doubleday as a selection in its Science Fiction Book Club. The component books had originally been published in...
.
The Lord Darcy stories are set in an alternate world whose history supposedly diverged from our own during the reign of King Richard the Lionheart
Richard I of England
Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period...
, in which King John
John of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
never reigned. Most of Western Europe and the Americas are united in an Angevin Empire
Angevin Empire
The term Angevin Empire is a modern term describing the collection of states once ruled by the Angevin Plantagenet dynasty.The Plantagenets ruled over an area stretching from the Pyrenees to Ireland during the 12th and early 13th centuries, located north of Moorish Iberia. This "empire" extended...
whose continental possessions were never lost by that king. In this world, a magic-based technology has developed in place of the science of our own world.
Plot
Master Sean O'Lochlainn, the Irish forensic sorcerer, visits ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
on a mission to collect evidence for an impending court case. While he takes a break in a hotel bar, a man in a booth is found to have mysteriously died. The police soon arrive, in the shape of bumbling but tenacious Sergeant Cougair Chasseur, for whom Sean casts a preservation spell over the deceased's body until a post mortem can be conducted. But Sean is flabbergasted to be named as a possible murder suspect by Chasseur, who distrusts magic and follows the theory of 'least likely suspect'.
Sean is eventually exonerated and able to investigate the circumstances of the death of the man, identified as a retired officer of the Imperial Legion, formerly stationed in Mechicoe (Mexico). He discovers that the deceased has been poisoned whilst drinking Popacotapetl, a very sweet liqueur
Liqueur
A liqueur is an alcoholic beverage that has been flavored with fruit, herbs, nuts, spices, flowers, or cream and bottled with added sugar. Liqueurs are typically quite sweet; they are usually not aged for long but may have resting periods during their production to allow flavors to marry.The...
made in Mechicoe, which has been laced with a bitter poison made from coyotl weed. However, he had been treated with a spell by a Healer, after which all drugs – including the one he is taking for malaria – taste sweet to him.
Eventually, the victim's wife, a much younger woman of Mechicain descent and who is conducting an illicit affair with a liqueur merchant, is unmasked.