Splinter

24

It looked like an original, but before he could satisfy himself that he was holding a forgery in his hands there was a knock at the door: three short, two long. Although it sounded like a prearranged signal, Emma didn’t seem to be expecting anyone. She glanced nervously at the door, then at Marc. Then she snatched the application form back.

‘Who?’ she breathed. The right-hand corner of her mouth was quivering.

Marc shrugged. He’d never heard of the Tegel Inn Hotel until a quarter of an hour ago. How should he know who was standing outside her door, which wasn’t, unfortunately, fitted with a spyhole? They would have to open it to discover who wanted them so late. It could hardly be a member of the staff. This seedy hotel boasted neither room service nor a minibar in need of topping up.

‘I’ll go and see,’ he whispered when the knock was repeated. The same rhythm, the same knuckles tapping on laminated wood.

‘No!’ Emma shook her head fiercely and grabbed his arm, pulling him so close that the tip of her nose brushed his ear. ‘Don’t you see what’s going on here?’

‘No.’ He tried to free himself.

‘They’re after us.’

‘Who? Bleibtreu?’

Her hair tickled his cheek as she shook her head again. ‘He doesn’t do his own dirty work. He’s got people for that.’

Her eyelids flickered violently and her massive bosom heaved at every breath. ‘That’s just why I need you,’ she said in a low, shaky voice. ‘I need a witness who’ll confirm what they’re doing to us…’

She put a finger to his lips just as he opened his mouth to speak and touched his tongue. Unlike him, she seemed not to notice this involuntarily intimate contact.

‘This is getting ridiculous,’ he whispered.

‘…a witness who’ll document the results of the experiment. No one will believe my word alone.’

He shook his head vigorously and freed himself from her grasp. Before she could protest he strode swiftly to the door, undid the chain, and opened it.

Too late.