The Dark Palace

Suddenly a detail from the night, which had troubled Qui

Waechter let out a rueful laugh. ‘Is true?’

‘Yes. The eye I retrieved was brown. But her eye, the eye on her face, was blue, I believe.’

‘He would not think about that! We are too used to working in black and vite!’

‘He? Are you saying that you are not responsible for this grotesque prank?’

‘No. I knew nothing of it until the night. And then I keep silent because I knew that it had been done for the best of motives. A harmless prank. Maybe it would help to promote our film. But most, I be-leeff, it vos intended to make me lahh-ff.’

‘Make you laugh?’ Inchball’s eyes bulged in disgust.

‘I be-leeff so.’

Qui

Waechter’s hand flew up to his eye patch. ‘Because of this?’ Waechter lifted the patch. Qui

‘But when I asked you about your eye before, you told me that a splinter from a gunshot robbed you of it?’

Waechter shrugged. ‘To me, it vos not any of your business.’

‘So why do you wear the patch?’

‘Symbolisch. I vear this to show how I am damaged.’

‘It is a deception.’

‘No. It is a confession.’

‘So. Who? Who is he? The man who thought you would find this fu

‘I do not know for sure. For that reason, I would rather not say. To make accusations mit no foundations, it is not gut.’

‘Berenger? I noticed the way you looked at him when we came to arrest you.’

‘Begging your pardon, sir,’ said Macadam. ‘May I start the film ru

‘By all means, Macadam. Run it to the other point we discussed.’

The action moved forward a few frames and juddered to a halt once more. Qui

‘Zat is Heinrich. Heinrich Klint. He is not responsible.’

Qui

‘It had gone on long enough. It started as an i

‘Wasting police time! They are all three of them culpable. This woman, Lyudmila … Klint. Conspirators in an offence.’

‘Vy offence? They perform ein kleines Theaterstück. A little play. That is all. They do not know that the police will come along. That you are at the premiere.’

‘I was invited.’

‘They do not know. I be-leeff they wanted to hoax your journalists. Ja?’

‘And what about Dolores Novak? Is that a little play?’

‘Berenger is nothing to do mit Dolores, ja? You understand that? He is a fool but no killer.’

‘Nevertheless, we will have to bring him in and talk to him. Where will we find him?’

‘You may find him at his hotel. He stays at the Savoy. Off coursse.’

‘It is a far cry from the room in which Dolores Novak was found.’

‘Berenger is ein Stern. A star – ja? Dolores vos …’ Waechter spat out a German word that sounded remarkably similar to whore.

‘I don’t know what that means,’ said Qui

‘Berenger had nothing to do with it. I svare on my life that he is i

Macadam ran the film to the end, to the moment when the inmates and staff of the asylum removed their human masks and revealed the skulls beneath. The moment of Berenger’s final surrender to madness and damnation.

‘No man is entirely i

Waechter returned the patch to its place over his perfectly sound right eye. His face possessed a stern, defiant dignity. He gave the impression of being a man convinced of the correctness of everything he did. Either he had lived a truly blameless life, or he was utterly devoid of a conscience.

FORTY-FOUR

The grainy twilight thickened overhead as Macadam turned the Model T off the Strand. An incandescent glow pooled out from the front of the great hotel, distracting Qui

A flicker of darkness as they drove under the arch that spa

A liveried doorman held the door for them.

Somewhere a piano was playing, the pianist favouring the higher, more refined keys. Beneath a high ceiling dripping with chandeliers, the wealthy guests moved with what seemed like purpose but was actually entitlement. It was clear from the angle at which they held their heads that they had no intention of opening doors. And it was doubtful if they would be able to see the people who opened them on their behalf.

Qui

In the event, it was decided that the manager would go.

They rode the elevator to the second floor. It was frustrating to have to wait for the shuttering of the gate, for the lift to respond to the operator’s touch, for the freighted shudder into motion and the gathering momentum as the cage ascended. And to wait for it all to unwind in reverse as they reached the floor.

Sensing the urgency of the situation, the manager hurried along the corridor to the door numbered 232. He stood back and allowed Inchball to pound his knuckles against the wood. ‘Oi, you in there. Open up. Police.’

The door next to Berenger’s opened. Eloise Dumont peered out. When she saw Qui

‘Ah, Miss Dumont, good evening. Do you remember me? I am Detective Inspector Qui

‘How could I forget? You were rude to me. Not many men are rude to Eloise.’

‘I really don’t have time for that now. Your … colleague – Mr Berenger – do you know if he is in his room?’

‘I believe so. We came back from Islington together.’

Qui

A door leading off was ajar.