Red Notice

28

The Eurostar attendant had remained on the platform by the entrance to the carriage, but was growing increasingly anxious as the minutes ticked by. He glanced towards the rear of the train, where the dispatcher was chatting to the guard and chivvying the last few passengers as they hurried along the platform.

The attendant hesitated for a few more moments, then boarded the train. There was no sign of the cleaner, but the toilet was occupied. He knocked, waited, then knocked again. There was no response from within.

On the other side of the door, Laszlo stood motionless, the kitchen knife in his hand. He heard a rattle of keys and then a faint metallic click. ‘What the hell do you think—’

The man never completed his sentence. Laszlo seized his hair, dragged him inside and kicked the door shut. Tightening his grip, he forced the man’s chin down towards his chest and drew the blade across his throat. He dropped the knife to the floor and clamped his fingers around the man’s jugular, stopping the blood spurting and covering their clothes. ‘Stay calm. Don’t struggle,’ he murmured. ‘It’s too late… You have lost. Accept… just accept it. Think of your family. Think pleasant thoughts…’

The attendant’s eyes bulged, but whether he was soothed by his killer’s voice or too terrified to risk moving, he stopped struggling. Laszlo turned him around so that he was facing the toilet. Clamping his other hand on the back of the attendant’s neck, he forced his face down, then released his grip on the jugular. At once, blood began pulsing into the bowl.

Laszlo felt the man’s life ebbing from him. His head would soon begin to spin as his brain started to suffer from the lack of oxygen that his blood would normally provide.

Maintaining an iron grip, Laszlo held him there until the crimson stream faltered and stopped, then lowered his body to the floor. He went to the basin, rinsed the blood from his right hand with cold water, then stripped the man of his uniform.