HS02 - Days of Atonement Read Online Free Page B

hishand on his heart and bowing his shaggy head to my wife. Then he glanced back at me. ‘There are a thousand questions I would like to ask about the investigation you carried out with Professor Kant in Königsberg. As a criminologist, of course, I made a point of reading your report. It was flawless from a bureaucratic point of view, but I would rather hear the details from your own lips.’ He hesitated an instant, then added: ‘For the sake of my studies.’
    Helena took hold of my arm as if to warn me to be on my guard.
    ‘Unfortunately, I shall be leaving in a day or two,’ he continued, his German truly excellent. ‘I am not a soldier, as you will have realised. I hold the rank of a colonel, but the battles I fought in the back streets of Paris earned me that respect. I’ll be going eastwards soon, towards the Russian border. I must admit, that prospect worries me a little. Our hold on the border territories is still not entirely established.’
    ‘Is that why you are going there,
monsieur
?’ Helena proposed with a show of candour. ‘To secure the area?’
    ‘A country can be ruled without a French soldier sitting on every single clod of it.’ He laughed. ‘Besides, the explanation is simpler. There is a hospital for the insane which is of great scientific interest in Bialystok. I mean to speak to some of the “guests.” ’
    Helena relaxed her grip on my arm.
    ‘
Bon voyage, monsieur
!’ she said lightly.
    ‘
Merci
, Frau Stiffeniis,’ Lavedrine murmured with a smile that seemed to light up his face. But his mind was elsewhere. He stretched out his hand and laid it heavily on my shoulder.
    ‘You possess information that is precious to me, sir. I came this evening for no other purpose. I am interested in knowing Kant’s thoughts about murder. I feel certain that he must have left some detailed notes on the subject. You are one of the few people who might know.’
    I knew the writing he was searching for. I had torn the pages into shreds with my own hands, and thrown them into the mud-brown waters of the River Pregel in Königsberg. They swirled and sank again in my mind’s eye.
    I shook my head.
    ‘Professor Kant died suddenly,’ I said. ‘He had never shown the slightest interest in crime before.’
    ‘Yes, yes, so you said,’ he interrupted impatiently. ‘And yet, I am convinced . . .’
    ‘Unfortunately, Hanno cannot help you, Colonel Lavedrine.’ Helena stepped between us. She smiled with captivating warmth, her hand on my arm, pulling me away. ‘I hope you may find more interesting material for research on your travels.’
    The road was thick with French soldiers as we made our way home.
    The sky was crystal-clear above our heads.
    The constellations shone in all their glory as we walked in the direction of our house. But the sight did not provoke my admiration, as it had once worked its magic on Immanuel Kant. On the contrary, that unsullied sky promised cold weather in the foreseeable future. If any more Prussians were hanged, their frozen corpses would shadow our days until spring.
    We were not alone as we walked through the night. Other guests were making their way home along the same path. We heard their comments in tinkling French and the low, guttural German of the coastal lowlands.
    Language had driven its wedge between us once again.

 
 3 
     
    I SAT BOLT upright in bed.
    Wide awake, I turned to Helena, unable to see her in the darkness. Her breathing was deep and regular. Beyond her, the sleeping child let out a whimpering sigh.
    Was that the noise which had disturbed my rest?
    I listened attentively. Outside, not even the hoot of an owl breached the peace. But I felt no easier. War robs a man of his tranquillity. With exaggerated care, I pulled back the coverlet and slipped down off the high bed. Stepping to the window, the rough-hewn floorboards cold beneath my feet, I lifted back the curtain and looked out over the rear of the house. The garden was a formless black