BooksBarbecue
Back The Double Save as PDF
Chapters (63)
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. Acknowledgements

Good day, sir… See you later. The words rose like a bubble from the murk. How did he know what they meant?

‘You talk in your sleep, my friend.’ The boy laughed and slipped away.

* * *

With mild alarm, Gessen observed through his high-powered binoculars Vidor and Hélène chatting together in the Zen garden. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, of course, but he could tell by the sly look on her face that she was up to her old mischief. Hélène liked to indulge in a bit of harmless fun, but he might need to have a stern word with her if he thought she was crossing the line. Vidor’s case was too delicate for anyone to interfere in his recovery. With an hour to go until their next session, he still had time to clear his desk of the towering pile of mail, financial reports, and forms requiring his signature.

As he sifted through the stack, an envelope postmarked from the UK, and addressed in carefully rounded letters, caught his eye.

Dear Dr Gessen,
You asked me to write if I think of anything that might be useful to you in helping Professor Kiraly return to health. During our short time together, I was not comfortable to reveal certain things. I do not have anything to hide, but some things are private, even shameful, and I could not say them to you while we drank tea together at Professor Kiraly’s kitchen table. So, I am writing now, and hope it will help you in some way.

For as long as I have been working for Professor Kiraly (eight years this December), he has suffered with strange headaches and sometimes sleepwalking. Once or twice I see him staring out the window for several minutes. When I tried to get his attention, it was like he wasn’t there. When under much stress, he will talk in his sleep in a strange language that I think must be Hungarian, though I do not know a single word of that tongue myself.

Perhaps you are wondering how I know these things about my employer? This is the part I was not able to say to your face, but the truth is that Professor Kiraly and I have another relationship besides housekeeper and employer. I have never given this other relationship a name, so I am not sure what to call myself. Not a mistress, I do not think, since Professor Kiraly is not married, and we do not hurt anyone. ‘Girlfriend’ or ‘love interest’ are also not good for a woman of my age, and I cannot claim that love is involved. Perhaps ‘lady friend’ is the best way to label me, if you feel a need to do that. I will explain now, and you can decide.