Cornflower Blue by Christian Schünemann & Jelena Volić

Author:Christian Schünemann & Jelena Volić
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-908323-97-2
Publisher: Haus Publishing
Published: 2015-10-12T00:00:00+00:00

20

Milena stood on King Alexander Boulevard, not far from the Law School, and looked towards Nikola Pašić Square. Despite the fact that rush hour had not properly started yet, the streets were already jammed. Even at a distance, though, she recognised the Renault, not so much from its colour – a silver grey – as from the style of driving: abruptly switching lanes, overtaking on the wrong side, cutting in a bit too tight in front of a van, approaching the kerb fast and screeching to a halt right in front of her. She only had to bend down, open the passenger door and get in.

‘Chop chop, girl,’ Siniša said, ‘we’re running late.’

Their route took them into Crown Street, the narrow but splendid avenue that ran parallel to the big King Alexander Boulevard and ended at the rear entrance to the castle, where the king and his court once resided and where the president now lived. Many houses along the Crown Street had alcoves, curved loggia and wide staircases in the Secessionist style, the southern European variant of Art Nouveau so characteristic of Belgrade. Here one was reminded of the influence of the Habsburg Empire, but also of the Turks, who had brought their culture and way of life from the East. Ordinary people had never lived in these houses. In former times, they had been the preserve of the upper middle class: the Jewish merchants and industrialists; later Communist Party functionaries had moved in and now they were the haunts of the nouveau-riche and government officials and civil servants with good connections. Siniša found a parking space round the corner, in Queen Zorka Street.

The previous Friday he had called the colonel’s widow and asked to meet her. At first, Mrs Djordan had been hesitant, but then yesterday – Monday – she’d contacted Siniša’s chambers and agreed to a meeting. It was only natural that Milena, in her role as an employee of the Institute for Criminology and Forensic Science, should accompany him. Especially as the official and final report of the military investigation commission had been released on the Monday. The television channels and newspapers had reported it extensively in their regional editions and quoted the salient passages. According to the report, Danilo Djordan, Colonel of the Honour Guard, had been alone on his houseboat in Ada Ciganlija and decided to clean his weapons, namely his shotgun. During this operation, the gun had accidentally discharged and killed him. The death of the colonel had been a tragic accident, caused by his own carelessness, and no one else had been involved. Only the left-wing newspaper Vreme discussed a possible connection between the death of the colonel and that of the two guardsmen two months earlier, but no other organ of the press followed its lead. The next day, coverage of the case had already been relegated to the back pages and today, four days after the tragedy, there had been no mention of it at all.

They rang the bell at

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