It was, Torsen surmised, just a coincidence, but he could hear his father's voice, see that forefinger wagging in the air. "Never believe in a coincidence when you are investigating a murder, there are no coincidences."
Torsen picked up his notepad again.
1. Discover any persons residing in East Berlin or in the vicinity of the dead man's hotel recently arrived from Paris.
2. Call the Hospice Center.
3. Magician.
Torsen checked his watch, then demolished the rest of his lunch, carefully wiping the crumbs from his desk with the napkin. He sipped his coffee, draining the cup, and then, unlike anyone else at the station, returned it to the kitchen, rinsed it out, leaving it on the draining board. He had a quick wash and brush-up in the cloakroom before he went back to his office. He sifted through the work requiring immediate attention, and then checked his watch again. He had taken exactly one hour, no more, no less.
Rieckert was back late by a good fifteen minutes. Torsen could hear him laughing in the corridor. He snatched open the door.
"You're supposed to take one hour!"
Rieckert waved a new jar of coffee as an excuse, asking if Torsen would like a cup. "No, thank you. Now get in here!"
Torsen left his door open and began to gather up all his half-completed vehicle theft reports, at the same time shouting again for Rieckert to join him.
"I was just going to get some milk!"
"These are more important. Get them sorted, I want the lot filed and checked."
"But I'm off at five-thirty."
"You can leave when these are completed and not before. I have to go out later myself, so the faster we get through them, the..."
"Where are you going?" Rieckert interrupted sullenly.
"Kellerman's hotel. I am, in case you are unaware of the fact, heading a homicide investigation. I have to have further discussions with the manager and get hold of the register, find out whether the janitor saw anyone else leaving the hotel around the time of the murder. Perhaps I should have a look at the alleyway, the distance the janitor had been from the man he saw, if that is permissible with you!"
Torsen began furiously jotting down notes in his thick pad.
a. How did the killer get to the hotel?
b. Question taxi drivers.
c. Question bus drivers.
d. Question doormen at the Grand: very well-lit reception area outside, within spitting distance of Kellerman's hotel.
e. Discuss guests with hotel manager.
Ruda had got soaked to the bone standing outside the Grand Hotel, yet nonetheless went to see Mamon before changing. As she turned to head toward her trailer, she saw Mike, and froze. He was still wearing Tommy Kellerman's black leather trilby. She swore at herself, at her stupidity for not remembering to dump it along with the rest of Kellerman's belongings. She watched Mike heading toward the meat trailer, but she couldn't do anything about it. She had to get ready to rehearse the act; she was behind schedule. When she reached the trailer Grimaldi was already there, with an open bottle of brandy.
"Why don't you stay sober, at least until I've worked the act."
"I just need something to warm me up, all right? I'm freezing. I looked all over the place for you — why didn't you wait for me? You just upped and walked out. Where the hell have you been?"
Ignoring his question, Ruda pulled on her old boots, and suggested nastily that all he had to do was try to retrieve the old plinths, then she slammed the door of the trailer. Grimaldi cursed her as she passed the window. Ruda didn't even turn her head, but gave him the finger. So much for thanking him for going with her to the morgue; he didn't know where the hell he was with her. "And you never have, you old goat!" he muttered to himself.
He really had not intended to get loaded, but he had just one more, then another, and then Tina tapped on the door.
She wore a raincoat over tights and a glittering bodysuit, and carried a feathered headdress.
"I hear you and the bitch went to see Kellerman this afternoon."
Grimaldi nodded, offered her a drink which she refused. Tina surveyed the broken crockery, the smashed pictures, and half smiled when she said, "Did you talk to her about us, then?"
"Yes, and it's settled... well, up to a point."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"We discussed it, she's not going to be easy."
"But you knew that. Did you show her what we worked out?"
"I reworked bits of it, I can't just give her an ultimatum. She's worked her butt off for the act. It'll take a while to sort out."
"Take a while, take a while! You've been fobbing me off with that line for weeks. I'm pregnant, Luis, how long do you think I can get myself bounced around in my condition? You promised, promised you'd talk to her about it, about us."
He drained the glass. "And I just told you we talked about it... she's got a lot on her mind!"
"And I haven't?... I am pregnant!"
He sighed, opening his arms, but she wouldn't come near him.
"I want you to get it written down, on paper, I want her out of this trailer, I'm not rooming with the girls any longer."
He hung his head, his big hands clasped together. "After the opening, you and I can sort out the living accommodation."
"There's nothing to sort out — we agreed. You give her half, that's fair, it's your act, half those animals are yours, this is your trailer. Just see how far she can go without you and your name."
"She doesn't use my name — now shut up."
Tina hit the wall with the flat of her hand. "She just uses you, and I can't bear to see it, everyone laughing at you behind your back — and what are you drinking for? What are you getting pissed for at this hour?"
She was giving him a thudding headache. "I am not getting pissed, I am just having a drop to warm me up — I've been standing around a freezing morgue for half the fucking day, I've been wanderin' around lookin' for her, gettin' soaked to the bloody bone. She's been actin' like a bear with a sore arse. I dunno. Everybody is naggin' me, drivin' me nuts. So don't you start, just shut up! I dunno where she goes half the time, I dunno what she's doing..."
Tina sat down and began to pluck at the feathered headdress.
"Was it him, then?"
Grimaldi nodded. "Yeah, it was him."
"She must be sick in the head, how could she have married that grotesque, malformed creature?"
"Because he had a big dick!"
Grimaldi grinned, and she flung her headdress at him, but she smiled. "So have you..."
She went to him then, and sat on his knee. "I want us to be married, and with me behind you, you could take over the act."
He smiled ruefully. "You think so?"
"I know so. You were the best, everyone tells me, they all say at your peak you were the best in the world!"
"Ah yes — at my peak... that was quite a while ago, sweetheart, I've peaked and come up for air a few times, and I've plummeted. Maybe I'm too old."
Her heavy breasts were pushed up by her costume and he bent forward to kiss them. She was so young, too young to have ever seen him perform; he had been at his peak before she was even born.
"I want to have the baby, and then you can begin to train me, teach me what to do, I want to be in the ring, I want my face in the center of that poster."
He laughed a low rumble. "I bet you do... but it takes a long time."
"I'm young, I have time to learn."
He eased her off his knee and filled a glass. "She learned so fast, Tina... I have never seen anyone adapt to working with cats like Ruda."