Entanglement Read Online Free PDF Page A

disbelief.
    “You’re such a petty bureaucrat, Teodor. Read for yourself exactly what they said. No one knows anyone, no one knows anything, no one saw anything. They’re all very sorry, they’re shocked. They met a week ago; only Rudzki, the psychotherapist, had known him for longer, a year or so. They all noticed that the deceased was introverted and depressed. They spoke so convincingly that I found myself wondering if he hadn’t committed suicide.”
    “You must be joking. By sticking a skewer in his eye?” Szacki wiped his mouth on his napkin. The omelette hadn’t been bad at all.
    “Right, it’s hardly likely. But if people are capable of shooting themselves in the head or biting off and swallowing their own tongues, you see what I mean. Anyway, ask the pathologist. And on the subject of tongues, have you heard the one about the lady speech therapist who had such a well-trained tongue that she choked on it while doing her exercises? Not bad, eh?”
    “So what are your impressions?” asked Szacki, without commenting on the joke.
    Kuzniecow smacked his lips and fell into thought. Szacki waited patiently. He knew that few people were as sharp or had as astute a sense of observation as this larger-than-life, far-too-jovial cop with the Russian name.
    “You’ll see for yourself,” he said at last. “They all made a very good impression. None of them was unnaturally self-controlled, or unnaturally excited and shocked. And often that’s how you can tell a murderer. Either he pretends to be cold as ice or mad
with despair. Any departure from the norm is suspicious, but they’re all on the level. More or less.”
    “Or else one of them knows how to behave himself,” suggested Szacki.
    “Yes, the therapist, I thought of that too. Besides, he knew the victim the longest - he might have had a motive. I was even ready to lock him up for forty-eight hours if he’d betrayed himself in any way, but nothing of the kind. He’s a bit superior and arrogant, like all shrinks - bloody nutters, the lot of them. But I didn’t feel he was lying.”
    In other words we’ve got a load of shit, thought Szacki, putting out a hand to stop the waitress from taking his roll and butter away with the empty plate. He’d paid enough - he was going to eat every last crumb of it.
    “Maybe it really was a blunder while a burglar was on the job,” he said.
    “Maybe,” agreed Kuzniecow. “They’re all educated, intelligent people. Do you believe one of them would decide to commit murder in such a theatrical place? They don’t have to read crime fiction to know we’ll keep sniffing around them to the bitter end. No one in their right mind would ever kill in such an idiotic way. It’s senseless.”
    Kuzniecow was right. It had promised to be interesting, but it looked as if they were seeking a petty thief who had accidentally become a murderer. Which meant they’d have to follow the usual routine, thought Szacki, making a mental checklist.
    “Tell the press we’re looking for people who were hanging about there that night and might have seen something. Interrogate all the watchmen, security guards, priests, anyone who was working there at the weekend. Find out who’s king of the castle and who rented the place to Rudzki so I can talk to him. I was planning to go there in the week anyway to take a good look at it all.”

    Kuzniecow nodded - the prosecutor’s instructions were obvious to him. “Just write it down for me when you get a moment so I’ve got confirmation in writing.”
    “Fine. And I’ve got one more request, without confirmation.”
    “Yes?”
    “Keep an eye on Rudzki for the next few days. I’ve got absolutely nothing to charge him with, but for now he’s the main suspect. I’m afraid he’ll do a runner and that’ll be the end of it.”
    “What do you mean? Don’t you believe the bold Polish police force will track him down?”
    “Don’t make me laugh. In this country you only have to leave your