The Investigation by Philippe Claudel

Author:Philippe Claudel [Claudel, Philippe]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 978-0-385-53535-9
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2012-07-10T04:00:00+00:00

XXV

THE INVESTIGATOR ALMOST LOST HIS GRIP for good.

There was a long minute during which he felt that his head and body were on the point of coming apart, of splitting open like a wall shaken by an earthquake, or by the shock wave of an extremely powerful bomb. He shut his eyes to cancel the sight of the empty box, which contained absolutely nothing and so became, in a way, a perfect metaphor for the situation he found himself in, or even for his entire life. Then, with his eyes still closed, he heard himself speak. Yes, words were issuing from his mouth, words like groans, weak, hesitant, convalescent, barely audible words, as if they’d taken roundabout routes on their way to the Giantess, bypasses, detours, side paths, endless highways, losing at each turning a little of their strength and much of their texture.

“How is this possible? You require me to entrust important documents to you, and then you lose them?”

The Giantess’s voice reached him where he stood in his darkness. “Well, that’s what you say, but I repeat, I don’t remember anything. I was asleep when you arrived.”

“But how about me? Do you remember me?”

“Very vaguely, to tell you the truth. And that doesn’t prove anything. I was told to wait for room 14 to come in this evening. You were the only Guest who hadn’t returned yet. So, when you came in a little while ago, I concluded that you were number 14. I didn’t make that deduction based on your appearance—you have no distinguishing features.”

The Investigator opened his eyes. “Are you the only person who has a key to that box?”

“My daytime Colleague has the other one.”

“Could he have put my credit card and identification somewhere else?”

The Giantess hesitated. “It’s unlikely.”

“Unlikely but not impossible,” replied the Investigator. He was at the very end of his strength, but he perceived a ray of hope.

“I repeat: unlikely.”

“Could we verify that tomorrow? I really need to sleep. I’m so weak. I’ve eaten nothing. Nothing.”

The Giantess frowned as if she suspected a dirty trick. “And how are you going to pay if you don’t have any money?”

The Investigator’s arms dropped to his sides. Couldn’t he find some respite, however brief, in the impossible situation he was in? “I was sent here on a mission,” he said, conscious that the statement made him sound like one of those lunatics who frequent the centers of megalopolises, proclaiming to all and sundry that they are the messengers of God or of some extraterrestrial race. “I have an Investigation to conduct,” he went on, striving to adopt a natural tone. “An Investigation into the Enterprise, which is located just across from your establishment.”

“Then you would be … the Investigator?” the Giantess asked in surprise.

“Absolutely.”

The Giantess hesitated, walked around her counter, went up to him, grasped him gently by the shoulder, turned him around to examine him in detail, and then pushed him toward the big mirror that covered one of the walls in the entrance. “Look at yourself.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.