She crossed her arms with a proprietary air. ‘And who might you be?’

‘My apologies, madam, for not introducing myself.’ He made a slight bow. ‘My name is Dr Anton Gessen. Professor Kiraly is currently under my care, and I was hoping to have a quick look at his home and surroundings.’ Natural habitat was the more accurate term, but that might sound eccentric to this suspicious woman. Even though it felt like it at times, Vidor wasn’t a forest creature he was studying in the wild.

‘Does Professor Kiraly know you are here?’

He hesitated. ‘I have his blessing to look around.’ A half lie. Surely if he’d asked, Vidor would have consented. But he couldn’t worry about that now.

Her stern expression relaxed. ‘In that case, you may come in, Dr…?’

‘Gessen.’

She stood aside and invited him through. ‘I’ve been so worried about Vid— um, Professor Kiraly, I mean.’ Her cheeks reddened. ‘Nearly a month since his collapse and not a word. I telephoned the college, but they will not tell me anything. Confidential, they said, and I am not anyone. Not family, I mean.’ She blushed again. ‘Only the housekeeper.’

Her English, though fluent, was marked by a distinctive accent. Polish would be his first guess. Or perhaps Romanian.

As he stepped into the hall, she grew flustered. ‘I am Mrs Bartosz.’ She extended her hand. ‘Magda. I don’t know where my manners are. Would you like tea? I have only just now put the kettle on.’ She ushered him into a sunny kitchen with two large sash windows overlooking the garden. The cat slunk in behind them, and Magda clapped her hands. ‘Scat,’ she said, chasing it out the back door. ‘Professor Kiraly loathes that animal. I don’t mind it myself, but he is always threatening to put poison out if it keeps coming into the garden.’

Interesting, Gessen thought. In his letter to Magda, Vidor had written, Don’t forget to feed the cat. If he didn’t tread carefully, she might grow suspicious and clam up.

‘Cats give him the… how is it called? The willies?’ Magda was saying. ‘Not just this one. All cats.’ She shook her head as one might when speaking of a misguided child. ‘He thinks they have… secret knowledge, like mysteries of the universe, maybe. And if cats had thumbs like people,’ she waggled her hands, ‘they would rule the world. Szalony. No?’ She tapped her forehead, though her smile was quickly followed by a frown. ‘What kind of doctor did you say you are?’

Gessen met her eye. ‘The ordinary kind.’