The Amber Knight Read Online Free PDF

money and gave it to Kaszuba to gamble away?’
    ‘No, but I can hardly ask Rat where he got it.’
    ‘So you’re harassing me.’
    ‘Harass is a strong word,’ Josef countered. ‘So far you’re our only witness.’
    ‘I didn’t see a thing.’
    ‘You found the body.’
    ‘And now I’d like to go to bed. Goodnight, doctor, Jankiel…’
    ‘Papers?’ Josef blocked his path. Adam crossed his arms and stared back belligerently. ‘I could find you and the lady cells in Piwna Street for the night.’
    Adam reluctantly put his hand in his inside pocket and pulled out his passport.
    ‘Thank you.’ Josef’s thin-lipped, chiselled features creased in a rare smile. ‘Just one more thing, Adam. Don’t stray too far from Mariacka Street. I take it the lady’s going home with you?’
    Not trusting himself to answer, Adam turned on his heel.
    ‘And do yourself a favour,’ Josef called after him. ‘Don’t expend all your energy before morning. You may need it for official questioning.’
     
CHAPTER TWO
     
    Adam pulled a fistful of notes from his pocket. Peering under the light of a street lamp that was more decorative than functional, he handed the taxi driver a wad of zlotys that looked a lot more than the twelve dollars it was, and added a tip.
    ‘…If the killer saw us and it was a Mafia killing…’ Helga speculated after the cab drove off.
    ‘One more word about murder, killers, Mafia, blood or bodies and I’ll abandon you right here.’ Pausing to remove his remaining shoe and socks, Adam walked barefoot down the Fishmarket towards the Long Riverside walk that bordered the Mottlau Canal.
    Helga’s stiletto heels clattered over the cobblestones behind him.
    ‘I’ve had a terrible shock and you threaten to leave me here, when there could be dangerous…’
    ‘I’ll be dangerous if you don’t close your mouth.’ Too weary to console her or offer soothing flattery, Adam closed his ears to Helga’s mindless prattling and immersed himself in the sights and sounds of the medieval quarter of Gdansk. No matter how many times he walked alongside the canal past the buildings studded with ancient gates that opened into picturesque streets crammed with meticulously restored houses, he always found something new. A different angle on a familiar building; a baroque carving over a door or window he hadn’t noticed before; a quirk of light that brought fresh perspective to the streets he had grown to love. Even the night was perfect. On their right the moon dappled the waters of the Mottlau canal with silver beams, the stars shone brighter than they ever had stateside; the outlines of church spires and secular tower cast inky silhouettes against the navy blue sky. Random lights sparkled like jewels through leaded- and stained-glass windows…
    ‘How much did you win tonight?’ Helga enquired shrilly, shattering the romantic world of cloak and doublet, velvet gowns and secret assignations in the narrow alleyways that he had been creating in his mind’s eye.
    ‘Not enough to cover last month’s losses.’
    ‘You always say that.’ She squeezed his arm hard to let him know he wasn’t forgiven.
    ‘I am bone weary.’
    ‘Me too.’ She took his admission as an apology and broached a subject that had preoccupied her all evening. ‘I called in Feliks’s workshop this afternoon. He’s working on a stunning pair of gold and sapphire earrings.’
    ‘Probably a commission.’ Adam found Helga’s flagrantly mercenary attitude refreshing after the devious, money-grubbing tactics of his ex-wife.
    ‘They were, but he said if he was paid upfront he could make another pair just like them. It’s my birthday next month.’
    ‘And how old will you be this year?’
    ‘Twenty-one, same as last.’
    ‘Did you ever see anything as lovely as that?’ He halted before the low archway of the Mariacka Gate. Cut into the façade of a five-storey tower it offered a picaresque glimpse of the narrow street beyond. Moonlight