Death in Berlin Read Online Free PDF

He started in to see how she worked and before we knew where we were the place was a mass of
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    diamonds and emeralds and banknotes. No wonder she was so heavy!’
    Miranda shivered and made a little grimace, as though the memory was an unpleasant one.
    ‘Amazing!’ The Brigadier’s voice was almost devout as he realized that he now had a story with which he could hold the attention of fellow diners for years to come.
    ‘Wasn’t it? I hadn’t an idea how they got there, and I still haven’t. To tell you the truth, I don’t really remember much about what happened between the time the bombing started and arriving at Mallow. I don’t think I wanted to remember it. But I do remember that they confiscated all Wilhelmina’s stuffing, and I howled the roof off. I didn’t mind about the banknotes, but the jewels sparkled, and I naturally thought that as they had come out of my doll I should be allowed to keep them. In the end they gave me a cheesy little chain bracelet to keep me quiet. It wasn’t even gold or silver. Just a lot of thin links in some white metal, with a little Egyptian charm, an ankh, dangling from it. I lost the bracelet years ago, but I still have the charm. And what’s more, I’m wearing it now! How’s that for proof?’
    Miranda held out her left hand with a flourish. About her wrist she wore a gold charm bracelet jingling with an assortment of miniature nonsense in the form of lucky coins, signs of the Zodiac, replicas of windmills, sailing boats and ship’s lanterns, and among them, slightly larger than the rest, was a small ankh - the ancient Egyptian life-sign that appears again and again on the walls of tombs and temples in the Land of the Pharaohs, and can best be described as a loop standing on a capital T. It was fastened to the bracelet by a link attached to the top of the loop, and was made of some steel-grey metal that had been engraved on the flat surface with Egyptian hieroglyphics, and on the edge by deep parallel lines.
    ‘I’ve worn it for years,’ said Miranda. ‘Stella gave me this bracelet for my tenth birthday, and I’ve added something to it almost every year. The ankh was the first thing to go on it, because at the time it was the only charm I possessed.’ ‘ •<’ •
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    ‘Really? This is most interesting,’ said Brigadier Brindley. ‘Extraordinarily interesting. Incredible! Might I have a look at that trinket?’
    ‘Of course. Wait a minute and I’ll undo the catch. It’s a bit stiff. I’ve often meant to jettison that charm because it doesn’t really go with the others, but now I shall cherish it as my prize piece.’
    She struggled with the stiff clasp of the bracelet and having managed to remove it, handed it across the table to the Brigadier, who examined the ankh with absorbed interest and seemed disappointed.
    Tm afraid it’s not very exciting,’ apologized Miranda. ‘It hasn’t even got a date or a name or initials or anything on it. I remember a lot of men came and peered at it once, and one of them said it was modern and the signs on it were only for decoration, because they didn’t make sense, but that it was made from some alloy that might be worth looking into. He tried to bend it, I remember. But it wouldn’t bend, and because I thought he’d break it, I began to howl dismally, and one of the other men said, “Oh, let the kid have it!” and gave it back to me.’
    The bracelet was passed around the table. ‘It is very interesting, is it not?’ said Mademoiselle, peering at it doubtfully before returning it to its owner.
    ‘It’s like a sort of fairy story, isn’t it?’ said Miranda pocketing the bracelet in preference to wrestling further with the clasp. ‘A rather creepy one by the Brothers Grimm. I never did like their stories, anyway.’
    ‘It is certainly a very remarkable coincidence,’ said Brigadier Brindley. ‘A most romantic story.’
    ‘It is even more romantic than you think!’ said Miranda with a