The Quiet Mother

13

Konrád had a slight edge and he decided to take advantage of it. He headed to the building where Valborg had lived and died. Her neighbour on the first floor was coming up from the laundry room in the basement when Konrád showed up, giving her quite a shock, seeing him again when she walked by the front door. She opened the door for him and Konrád asked if he could bother her for a moment. She was holding the laundry that she’d taken off the clothes line and he asked if he could help her; she declined but he followed her up to her flat on the first floor.

She was wary and didn’t invite him in, so he stood in her doorway and said that she’d been right about the gleam from the blocks. She wasn’t quite sure what he meant at first, but then glanced at the binoculars still standing on the table by the living-room window.

‘You revealed a bit about yourself,’ Konrád said.

‘What do you mean?’

‘Do you really have a sister?’

Upon entering her flat, she’d put the laundry down on the living-room table. The TV was on; a cooking show with a smiley host putting a rack of lamb in the oven.

‘I found a single father, divorced, who has no real contact with his annoying son. He finds some comfort or fulfilment in spying on the lives of others. He saw the murder being committed and it was he who called the police. He saw you here, too. Right now, he’s talking to the policewoman who’s investigating the case, and as a result, I’m sure she’ll want to talk to you, too. Probably straight away, tonight.’

The woman looked at him and didn’t say a word.

‘Those gleams you saw from the buildings over there came from him.’

She looked back at the binoculars on the table.

‘What did he see?’ she then asked.

‘You should close your curtains in the future,’ Konrád said. ‘I’m not sure he’ll lose his urge to peep despite being given a talking-to by the police.’

The woman looked out the window.

‘He saw the man who was here with you,’ said Konrád.

The woman smiled faintly, but there was no pleasure in her expression.

‘There’s probably no way to talk about this without it sounding bad.’

‘Try it.’

‘I have a sister,’ she said. ‘That’s no lie.’

‘In the hospital?’

‘She was involved in an accident, yes, but it may not have been as serious as I said it was.’

‘And the man?’

‘He’s her husband.’

‘Your sister’s husband? He’s your brother-in-law? And what, were you consoling him?’

‘We’ve been meeting for the past few months,’ said the woman. It took Konrád a moment to realise that she meant she was having an affair with her brother-in-law.

‘And he was here with you right before the break-in on the floor above you?’ he asked.

‘Yes.’

‘Why in heaven didn’t you tell the police about this right away?’

‘Because I didn’t want my sister to know. I’m sure you understand that.’

‘It’s never good to lie in such matters,’ Konrád said.

‘But you don’t think he did it? He had no reason.’

‘He was seen leaving your flat,’ Konrád said, ‘but wasn’t seen coming out of the building. Soon afterwards, Valborg was attacked.’

‘Did you get this from that pervert?’ said the woman, glancing at her living-room window. ‘It’s nonsense. He could never do such a thing. It’s out of the question.’

‘So your sister mustn’t find out about these meetings of yours?’ said Konrád. ‘In other words, they’re still together, your brother-in-law and her?’

‘Does she need to find out?’ asked the woman. ‘Because if she does, I want to tell her myself. I’ve been meaning to do it for a long time — in fact, both of us have — but it’s difficult, of course, and we’ve pushed it aside. And then there was the accident. She was on her way to see me when it happened, and I was going to tell her about the relationship. It’s all a big mess.’

‘You should hurry up and tell her,’ Konrád said. ‘The police will probably want to talk to you and your brother-in-law, and then it will all come out. The two of you should omit nothing. You’re already on thin ice for not coming clean and saying that a man was with you.’

‘But this has nothing to do with him. Or with us. We didn’t do anything.’

‘It’s your word against his,’ Konrád said. ‘And you’re saying a lot less than when we last met. Did Valborg ever say anything to you about her money?’

‘Money? No.’

‘She told me that she’d put money aside, and it crossed my mind that she may have kept some of it in her flat.’

‘I had no idea about that. We never talked about money. Never.’

Konrád was out on the pavement when Marta drove up and stepped out of her car. With her was another detective who’d recently started in CID and whom Konrád hadn’t met. Marta, clearly unamused, sucked on her e-cigarette.

‘Why are you always bothering me?’ she said. ‘Why aren’t you at home playing Solitaire or something?’

‘Didn’t you enjoy meeting Emanúel? You guys managed to miss him completely.’

‘That bloody pervert,’ Marta muttered.

‘What, I get no thanks at all?’

‘Oh, please. First of all, you shouldn’t be poking your nose into this.’

She stuck her e-cigarette between her lips.

‘What did the girl say?’ she asked, as if immediately forgetting that Konrád shouldn’t be sticking his nose in police matters.

‘She told me one of those beautiful love stories that you never get tired of hearing,’ Konrád said. ‘I’m sure you’d enjoy it. Boy meets girl, boy falls for girl, boy starts sleeping with her sister, too.’

‘How sweet,’ Marta snapped, blowing out two plumes of vapour in a row before dashing like a locomotive towards the stairwell.

‘How is it, working with Marta these days?’ Konrád asked the young man.

‘Fine,’ the detective whispered, slowly setting off after her. ‘It could be worse.’

‘Oh, yes,’ Konrád said. ‘It could be.’