Doctor Criminale by Malcolm Bradbury

Author:Malcolm Bradbury [Bradbury, Malcolm]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780330525749
Publisher: Pan Macmillan

I was crass, of course; but it was my solution to the problem that brought a new stage in the quest for Criminale. Looking for a compromise, what I did was to borrow one of the rowing boats that lay tied up beneath the Old Boathouse, which had not acquired its name for nothing. And the next afternoon, when the now familiar lunchtime storm had exhausted itself, I set out to row Ildiko round the island. The trees dripped with rain, the water churned a little. I steered for the head of the promontory, where the craggy peak above the villa rose to its highest and wildest. There were thickly wooded slopes, and steep rockfalls; it was the part of the Barolo grounds that was hardest to reach. Ildiko sat irritably in the back of the boat, tugging her sweater round her. On the shoreline, there were tiny fragments of beach, no doubt idyllic in the summer, no doubt quite chilly at this time of year. We came round an arm of rocks; and there I caught a sudden new glimpse of Bazlo Criminale.

There on the grey sand he sat, with a bag beside him, buck naked except for a smart blue yachting-cap. He was not alone. By his side was Miss Belli, equally naked, if not more so. She sat stroking his back and talking with Italian vehemence. Suddenly she rose, ran a little way along the tiny narrow beach, stopped at a large rock, and seemed to pose there, wide-legged, straddled against it. Criminale reached in his bag, brought out a camera, and rose to move towards her. ‘See, Criminale Bazlo!’ said Ildiko, stirring suddenly, ‘What is he doing?’ ‘Sit still,’ I said urgently, in a low voice, as the boat rocked alarmingly. ‘And Blasted Belli!’ cried Ildiko, ‘He is with Blasted Belli!’ ‘Quiet, Ildiko, they haven’t seen us,’ I said, ‘Let’s get round the corner, out of sight.’ I heaved at the oars, rowing on hurriedly. Laughter came bubbling from the shore; Criminale, looking like some coarse and hairy satyr, was up close to naked Miss Belli, a Botticelli Venus, framing her through his camera. We turned a bar of rock that hid us from view; sweating heartily, I let the boat drift.

‘You saw it!’ cried Ildiko. ‘It’s probably all quite innocent,’ I said, ‘Just a little nude photography session.’ ‘And he needs to be naked too?’ asked Ildiko, ‘You are the one who is innocent. Those two are making an affair.’ ‘We don’t know that, do we?’ I said. ‘What do you need to understand something?’ asked Ildiko, ‘Why do you think he talked about the Nobel Prize that way the other night? Bazlo has fallen head over feet in love with Blasted Belli!’ ‘It hardly seems likely,’ I said. ‘Affairs are not likely,’ said Ildiko, ‘How about you and me? He is very attractive man and he cannot keep his hands off women. That is how he left Gertla and ended up with Sepulchra. Remember, he is Hungarian.

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