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Chapter 46
I got back later that day feeling good. The chauffeuring of my very own private eye had gone well and her friend had been duly impressed.
Throughout the whole ride, she seemed to hold herself more proudly and when I opened the door to invite her friend into the car, she gestured gracefully with hand as if she was royalty, loving every minute of it.
As I drove around town, and as the big car thirstily swallowed up the fuel from it's capacious tank and money out of my pocket, they tittered in the back like two young schoolgirls.
Eventually, I dropped them off at a very up market cafe and food parlor near Buckingham Palace where they were going to have cucumber sandwiches, tea and gaze at the other occupants. Fortunately, they didn't want me to collect them afterwards, so I was able to get back to Gerda's Report on Bruno.
Gerda's emailed report had got to the point where he was talking to the dark-haired Italian looking woman.
"I am only going to ask you once. Before you answer, you should know that I have with me a trained psychologist who is able to detect if you are lying. Whether or not you tell the truth will determine what will happen to you."
To emphasize his point, Bruno reached inside the desk and pulled out a child's cricket bat. It was about a third of a meter long and looked as if it had only recently been bought from a toyshop but had never seen the light of the sunshine.
The Italian woman shrank back, her face contorted in fear with mascara running down her face.
"I see that I don't need to go into detail on that matter."
Bruno slapped a cricket bat on the table, wood against wood. I didn't know where to put myself or what to say. What Bruno was doing was wrong but he wasn't doing it to me so I just tried to stay detached and said nothing.
"Answer me at once." Bruno's voice was flat and full of cruelty.
"Did you receive the week's takings as usual?"
"Yes..."
"Did you store them in the safe as usual?"
"Yes..."
"Did my agent come to collect the money at the usual time?"
"Yes." Her voice was tiny and I watched her body language, tried to remember everything I had learnt from a lecture when I was half asleep after a particularly heavy party. There were some small signs that she was concealing something in her last reply but I couldn't be sure.
"Did he give you the usual receipt?"
She didn't reply, as if she was unsure what to say.
Bruno's voice dripped like acid into the quiet room.
"I said, did he give you the usual receipt?"
"Yes."
"So you are able to produce his receipt for me?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"I lost it in my hurry to catch the aero plane. It has been a long time since I've been home to see my family and I was late."
"But you didn't leave any clothes in your rooms. You were not intending to come back were you?"
"My family have a tailors business. I was going to come back with new clothes."
"I don't believe you!" Bruno was leaning forward now, his hand and wrapping around the handle of the small cricket bat.
"It's the truth! It's the truth!" The woman was shrieking now, her voice high and terrified.
The big man by the door cracked his knuckles again. Bruno ignored him but the woman didn't and was white faced with fear.
"Contrary to what you may have heard from others who have been where you are now, I do not enjoy these situations," said Bruno, quietly. "But I must have my money so I have one more question for you. You must answer it very carefully."
He paused to give the question emphasis.
"Where is my money?"
There was an equally long pause as the woman sniveled into her handkerchief.
"I don't know," she said in a very small voice.
Bruno looked at her long and hard, his face impassive and cold.
"I am now going next door to consult with my psychologist here who will give me her opinion on whether you have been telling the truth. It will be she who will decide your fate."
The woman turned to me, her eyes imploring.
"Tell him to listen to me. Tell him to believe me. Tell him I am saying the truth. I do not know whether cash is!"
If I could have traded places with her at that moment and unburdoned myself of that dreadful responsibility, I could have been tempted... almost.
But all I did was try to keep my face as deadpan as Bruno's as I followed him out of the room.
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