Lying and Dying by Graham Brack

Author:Graham Brack [Brack, Graham]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781912546688
Publisher: Sapere Books
Published: 2018-07-31T22:00:00+00:00

‘Why did you lie to Klinger just then?’ asked Navrátil as they trotted down the stairs.

‘He brings out the worst in me. I can’t resist telling him a little story.’

‘But Soucha isn’t a suspect for the Gruberová murder, sir.’

‘No, but Banda is.’

‘Has he visited the country house too, sir?’

‘I don’t know,’ said Slonský. ‘But it’s worth asking, don’t you think?’

Banda’s scribbling was his sole amusement. Mucha had given up rationing his paper and had left him a ream of flimsy copy paper, which Banda had turned into some letters, a few complaints, and several chapters of autobiography. If he had hopes that the latter would prove a bestseller, they were sabotaged by his exclusion of any matters of general public interest, such as how he had murdered his girlfriend.

He glanced up briefly as Slonský entered the cell.

‘Have you come to torment me again?’

‘Only if absolutely necessary. Though I can’t guarantee I won’t hum a Sinatra tune or two.’

Banda laid his pencil down parallel to the top of his page and turned to Slonský to indicate that he was prepared to give him his full attention.

‘How can I help?’

‘I wondered if you knew a Dr Theodor Sammler.’

‘Of course I do. Who doesn’t?’

‘I don’t.’

Banda shrugged to convey that anyone who was anyone would know Sammler, but that Slonský might not fall into this group.

‘Perhaps you would write me a letter of introduction.’

‘If it helps me get out of this place, bring me a better pencil and I’ll get onto it straight away.’

‘I wouldn’t be in too much of a hurry to get out if I were you. If you didn’t kill Irina, whoever did might be upset if you aren’t blamed for it, since he must have gone to such trouble to frame you.’

‘I didn’t kill her, and that’s a chance I have to take. Though I hope that the police will ensure my safety by catching the real killer.’

It was Slonský’s turn to shrug.

‘We might, if we’ve got nothing better to do.’

Banda closed his hand tightly around his pencil and breathed deeply to dissipate his anger.

‘I’m not sure I like you,’ he hissed.

Slonský leaned forward until their noses were almost touching.

‘I’m not sure I give a toss,’ he replied.

The two men held their stares like boxers at a championship weigh-in, until Banda threw his pencil aside in annoyance.

‘This is ridiculous. Ask me what you want, then leave me in peace.’

‘Tell me about Dr Sammler.’

‘I know very little about him personally. We met regularly, as you would expect given that he is a leading financier in the Czech Republic and has been very helpful to this and previous governments.’

‘How regularly?’

‘Perhaps once or twice a month. Rarely one to one, but we move in the same circles in the Castle district. However, if Sammler wanted to speak to me he had only to ring my office and I would make time for a man of his importance.’

‘Have you ever been to his country house?’

‘No. I don’t even know where it is. I’m not sure he does either.

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.