Unholy Awakening by Michael Gregorio

Author:Michael Gregorio [Gregorio, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: mystery, Historical
ISBN: 0571237908
Amazon: B003P8QMIS
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Published: 2010-09-28T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Evening was fading as the coach rattled into Marienburg.

We entered town by the east gate, and left it again by a different gate on the other side of town which gives onto the River Nogat. As we passed beneath this gate, the coach slowed down for a moment, and a man in uniform jumped up and took his place on the box beside the driver. He saluted Lavedrine, who introduced him to me as Alain Coin, colour-sergeant of the Eleventh Hussars. The driver whipped his horses, and the carriage wheels began to rumble noisily over the wooden slats and braces of the bridge which crossed the river.

Lavedrine resumed what he had been saying. Marienburg was an important military centre, he explained, not only on account of its vital strategic position close to the east– west highway between Berlin and Königsberg, and on the road which runs north–south from Danzig to Warsaw, but also because of the officer who had recently been appointed commander of the garrison.

‘Major-General Olivier Layard is a soldier to be reckoned with,’ he said.

‘Isn’t the town within the governance of General Malaport?’ I asked.

‘Malaport is supreme commander of the northern plain,’ Lavedrine replied, ‘but Layard is a specialist. He has Napoleon’s ear, it is said, in matters of military intelligence, advance strategy and campaign planning. Since he arrived in Marienburg, the fortress has become…’ He broke off suddenly. ‘Let’s just say that the town is important.’

I was not reassured by what I had heard. How would General Layard react to the news that a Prussian magistrate had been seconded to the investigation of the murders of officers under his command? If Layard decided to send me home again, I would have been happy. I had been spirited away from Lotingen. I had work to do there, and I was still very dubious that there was any connection with what had happened in Marienburg.

‘Where are we going?’ I asked him.

‘Over to the far bank,’ he said vaguely, slapping his hand loudly, calling out to the sergeant. ‘Coin, what can you tell us about this place?’

‘Not much, sir,’ the sergeant called back. His face was round and red, his large nose and bulging cheeks pitted and scarred with pimples and warts. ‘I was over there this morning for the first time. Our lot steer clear of the area. Patrols go past, of course, but they keep to the road and they travel fast. This place is down by the riverbank, monsieur, well away from the road. That’s Prussian territory, though the General says it falls under our jurisdiction.’

‘What was Grangé doing there?’

The sergeant blew on his lips. ‘That’s anyone’s guess, monsieur. There’s only one thing certain. That’s where he was found. There’s an inn over yonder, and the news came from there. I’m surprised they even bothered to bring it to our attention. It’s a low dive, a Prussian drinking-den used by river-rats, smugglers, wherry-men, eel-fishers – characters that steer wide of the law, sir.’

Lavedrine thanked him for the information.

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