Chapters (50)
- Praise
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- EPILOGUE
- AUTHOR’S NOTE
- Teaser chapter
“She was just a bit shook up, that’s all, sir. On account of the suddenness of your mother’s death in the hospital, sir. And also because, since she died, the International Patrol have been there, asking questions about you, sir. Wanting to know if you were coming back to Vienna for the funeral. That kind of thing.”
“Now, why would the Allied police be at all interested in me?” Even as I spoke I was recalling my getaway drive from the Central Cemetery. It was beginning to look as if my American driver might have made an error. As if it had been Eric Gruen the International Patrol had been pursuing, not a black marketer.
Medgyessy smiled his sylvan smile. “There’s no need for that, sir,” he said. “We’re not stupid people, the wife and I. Just because we never talk about it, doesn’t mean we don’t know about it.”
It was clear there was more here than just a girl left with a bump in her road. A lot more.
“So please don’t speak to me like I’m an idiot, sir. That won’t help either of us. All we’re asking is that we continue to serve your family, sir. In the only way we can now, since I can’t imagine you’ll be staying on in Vienna, sir. Not officially, anyway.”
“How exactly do you think you can serve me?” I asked him, patiently.
“With our silence, sir. I knew most of your mother’s affairs. Very trusting, she was. And very careless, too, if you know what I mean.”
“You’re trying to blackmail me, aren’t you?” I said. “So why don’t you just tell me how much?”
Medgyessy shook his head, irritably. “No, sir. It’s not blackmail. I wish you wouldn’t look at it that way. All we want is to serve the Gruen family, sir. That’s all. A proper reward for loyalty. That’s what this is all about. Maybe what you did was right, sir. That’s hardly for me to say. But it’s only fair that you should recognize your debt to us, sir. For not telling the police where you live, for instance. Garmisch, is it? Very nice. I’ve not been there myself, but I’ve heard it’s very beautiful.”
“How much?”
“Twenty-five thousand schillings, sir. That’s not much, considering. Not when you think about it, sir.”