The Dark Palace

Drawn by an irresistible urge to know what lay behind her hands, Qui

‘Please, it’s all right. I’ll not hurt you. I’m a policeman. I’m here to help.’

The woman seemed not to understand him. Certainly she showed no sign of being reassured by his words. The one eye that was visible bulged with renewed fear.

‘What happened here?’ Qui

The only one who remained was the man who had raised the alarm.

‘She needs a doctor,’ said Qui

He heard the clatter of a horse-drawn cab pulling up. A moment later, as if responding to a cue, a tall clean-shaven gentleman in evening dress presented himself. The man was probably in his late thirties. He walked with the brisk upright confidence born of authority. ‘I am a doctor.’ His accent was foreign, but its precise origin was unidentifiable, at least to Qui

Qui

Perhaps sensing his professional authority, she allowed her hands to be teased slowly from her face.

There, where her right eye should have been, there was a rusting circle of gore around a black chasm that not even the lights from the kinematographic supply shop could illuminate.

Qui

‘I must staunch the bleeding,’ said the doctor. He removed a handkerchief from his pocket and placed it over the empty eye socket. The woman whimpered at his touch but allowed it.

The doctor turned to Qui

‘She has been attacked. I am a police detective. I will need to take a statement from her.’

‘First we need to get her to a hospital. We must stabilize her condition. She is in severe shock, of course. You will get nothing out of her now. She will need sedation and medication for the pain. When she has had a chance to rest, you will be able to talk to her.’

Qui

The woman became agitated, turning her head rapidly from side to side in fearful denial.

The doctor placed a hand behind her head to protect her from the effects of her own agitation. ‘I must protest!’

The victim’s teeth locked together, as if in spasm. A stifled gargling sounded in her throat. Qui

‘You would do better to help me get her into my cab! Our first duty is to preserve her life. Then, there will be time to go after the perpetrator.’

But Qui

A strangled stuttering eked itself out between her clenched teeth. ‘T-t-t-t-d-d-d …’

‘Yes?’ Qui

He sensed her body tense. She seemed to be gathering her powers for a supreme effort.

‘My dear! You must not exert yourself.’ The doctor cast a disapproving scowl at Qui

‘You saw the man! You saw him!’ It was no longer a question, but an urgent insistence.

The woman raised herself in the doctor’s arms. ‘Tayyy-vvvvl!’

‘What did she say?’ Qui

‘I don’t know. I didn’t hear.’ But there was something suspect about his demurral.

She repeated the sound, more quietly, but also more calmly. ‘Tayvl.’

‘Table? Is she saying something about a table?’ wondered Qui

‘No, I don’t think so. I think …’

‘Is it German? Is she German? Are you German?’

‘I am not German. My name is Casaubon. I am French.’

‘But you understand what she is saying?’

‘I know that she is not speaking German.’

‘Tell me, what language is she speaking?’

‘I believe it may be Yiddish. Tayvl is the Yiddish word for—’

But the woman herself cut in: ‘Day-vil! The day-vil did this!’

Qui

Sergeant Macadam was on their heels.

Qui

‘We must get her to a hospital!’

Qui

The photographer scuttled away under the force of Qui

Qui

Bittlestone and the other man took a step closer to the wounded woman but, for the moment at least, would go no further than that. It was as if they had walked into an invisible fence. A vacant inertia came over them both. They showed no sign of horror, but rather watched her writhing with fascinated frowns. They seemed to have become disassociated from the moment.

‘Macadam, you and I will search the area for evidence.’

‘What are we looking for exactly, sir?’

Qui

The woman’s groans increased in volume and frequency. Casaubon glanced up uneasily. ‘I fear the worst if we do not get her to a hospital soon. She has suffered a tremendous shock. The effect on her nervous system, not to mention her heart, we ca

‘Help him,’ Qui

‘Won’t you help us?’ demanded Bittlestone.

‘I have work to do.’ Qui

At that moment, the lights in the shop window went out, plunging the narrow passage into semi-darkness. ‘Damnation. Get them to switch the lights back on, will you, Macadam. And talk to all the businesses along here to see if there were any witnesses to the attack. Someone must have seen something.’

As always, Macadam was quick to obey.

The woman had partially revived and was able to take faltering steps with the help of the three men attending to her. Qui