Fatal Lies (7 page)

‘Doctor Liebermann,' said Amelia. Her greeting was accompanied by a transient smile that reminded Liebermann of wind on water – a sudden perturbation, followed by stillness.

‘Miss Lydgate, I was just passing . . . and I wondered if you still wanted Herr Janowsky's details?'

‘Herr Janowsky?'

‘My sister's dancing master? I have his address.'

Amelia's face registered mild surprise.

‘It is very kind of you to have remembered, Doctor Liebermann. Please, do come in.'

While Amelia prepared tea, Liebermann was obliged to pay his respects to Frau Rubenstein – a sweet-natured widow and friend of his father. Liebermann had brought Amelia and Frau Rubenstein together, knowing that both women were in need of what the other possessed: the old woman, companionship, and the younger one, a place to live. After a few polite exchanges, Liebermann ascended several flights of stairs leading to Amelia's rooms on the top floor. He was invited to sit and subsequently plied with Earl Grey and
Wiener Vanillekipferl
– sweet crescent biscuits made with ground almonds and vanilla sugar.

Liebermann gave Amelia Herr Janowsky's address, which prompted her to thank him, once again, for inviting her to the Detectives' Ball. She then asked how Inspector Rheinhardt had fared after his departure. Liebermann explained that the Inspector was investigating the death of a young man at a military school – but he did not elaborate.

On the table was a volume bound in scuffed leather and with a blank spine. Others like it were stacked in a neat pile by the hearth. These were the private journals of Amelia's German grandfather, Doctor Ludwig Buchbinder: confidant of Prince Albert, Physician-in-Ordinary to the Queen of England, and scientific visionary.

Liebermann picked up the book and allowed the covers to fall open. The pages released a distinctive, ripe odour – an evocative quintessence of time, scholarship and decay.

‘Do you still intend to edit these journals for publication?' he asked.

‘Indeed,' said Amelia. ‘I was only recently considering that very volume – which contains a remarkable section on the history of automata.'

‘It is not a subject I know very much about,' said Liebermann, hoping that she would rectify his ignorance.

‘The creation of automata has always been associated with medicine . . . and particularly with doctors who have an interest in blood.'

‘Really?'

‘Yes – my grandfather has written that the first working model of the circulatory system was devised by a German physician, who announced his success in the
Journal des Savants
in 1677.'

Amelia halted – suddenly self-conscious.

‘Please, do go on . . .'

‘Many more doctors embarked on similar projects – and the eighteenth century witnessed the creation of numerous “blood machines” of increasing sophistication. These “philosophical toys” caused much consternation among religious thinkers, who were concerned that, by making manikins that actually bled, doctors were engaged in a Promethean labour – and that their real intention was to create artificial life.' Amelia's hair caught the light and, for a brief moment, became incandescent – a shimmering haze of red and gold. ‘Eventually,' she continued, ‘even the most adventurous members of the scientific community were frightened by the implications of their work, and in due course artificial men became an increasing rarity in medical schools. In time, of course, they vanished altogether.'

‘How very interesting,' said Liebermann, still distracted by a residual image of her sudden ignition – a vague, haunting impression of flame and the colours of autumn. ‘One is reminded of your countrywoman, Mary Shelley – her cautionary tale of Frankenstein, or the modern Prometheus.'

‘She was – I believe – aware of the work of several German physiologists, which she mentions in her preface.'

Amelia's talk of artificial men reminded Liebermann of something he had once heard, about a chess-playing automaton that had
been built in Vienna for the amusement of the Empress Maria Theresa.

‘It might have been the brainchild of Maelzel,' he added.

‘The inventor of the metronome?'

‘Yes . . . But I can't be sure. I only have the dimmest recollection of what is supposed to have transpired.'

Miss Lydgate was extremely interested in this historical vignette; however, she concluded that, even if the story was true, the automaton itself must have been nothing more than a clever deception.

Liebermann always enjoyed such conversations with Miss Lydgate. She was an unconventional woman, yet her peculiarities possessed a certain charm: her pedantic speech, her stiff deportment, and the quite extraordinary intensity of her facial expressions.

He was a psychiatrist and something inside him – some nameless but essential part of his being – was irresistibly drawn to the unusual.

They continued their conversation until the sky darkened and it was no longer permissible for Liebermann to stay. He rose from his chair, exchanged a few pleasantries, and kissed Amelia's hand. On the landing he insisted that she stay upstairs – he did not expect her to show him out.

As he made his descent, Liebermann became acutely aware of the physical and mechanical properties of his body: locomotion – the movement of joints – his lungs expanding and contracting, his spine resisting gravity. Propriety and apprehension had turned him into an automaton – an artificial man, in every sense. Contrived, inauthentic, affected: a
blood machine
.

IT WAS MID-MORNING
when Rheinhardt's carriage drew up alongside the wind-scoured statue of St Florian. The Gothic façade of the military academy looked much larger than Rheinhardt remembered, and where there had previously been nothing but darkness he now saw wide, flat exercise areas. Ranks of uniformed boys were practising their rifle drill, responding to the abrupt commands of a burly Tyrolean infantryman.

Rheinhardt passed under the central arch where he spied Albert – the old soldier – dozing in the cloisters. He shook the veteran's shoulder, gently.

‘Permission to report,' mumbled Albert before his bloodshot eyes opened. He pulled himself up and croaked: ‘Ah, Inspector . . . Permission to report: I was asleep.'

‘And I trust you are now refreshed,' said Rheinhardt. ‘I believe the deputy headmaster is expecting me.'

‘He is, sir. This way, sir, this way.'

The deputy headmaster ushered Rheinhardt into his office and immediately apologised on behalf of Professor Eichmann. The headmaster had been called to an emergency meeting of the board of school governors; Becker hoped, however, that he would be equal to the task of assisting the Inspector with his investigation.

Rheinhardt asked Becker to recapitulate the events surrounding the discovery of Zelenka's body. The deputy headmaster's account was
entirely consistent – and delivered with calm authority. When pressed for more information about Zelenka's character, he simply repeated what he had said the previous Friday: he had known Zelenka quite well; the boy frequently asked for extra assignments; he was an enthusiastic student. Rheinhardt made a note, more out of politeness than necessity.

‘Who else taught Zelenka?'

Becker went through the papers on his desk and consulted a timetable.

‘Lieutenant Osterhagen, gymnastics. Herr Lang, drawing and calligraphy. Doctor Kloester, geography. Herr Sommer, mathematics . . .'

There were ten names in total.

A soft knock heralded the arrival of a maid who was carrying a silver tray.

‘Your medicine, sir.'

She deposited the tray on Becker's desk and made a diffident departure. The deputy headmaster picked up a piece of folded paper and, holding it over a small glass of clear liquid, tapped the side gently. A line of white powder fell out, the tiny grains dissolving as they sank in the liquid. Becker finally stirred the concoction with a spoon.

‘Excuse me,' he said to Rheinhardt, touching his temple. ‘I suffer from headaches . . .' He threw his head back and swallowed the liquid as if it were schnapps.

‘Are all of these masters here today?' asked Rheinhardt, looking down into his open notebook.

‘All of them except Sommer,' Becker replied. ‘He fell down the stairs yesterday and injured his leg.' The tone of Becker's voice was unsympathetic, almost dismissive. ‘He's gone off somewhere to convalesce.'

‘Do you know where?'

‘I'm afraid not. But the headmaster will know.'

‘I would like to conduct some interviews.'

Becker looked at the timetable again and pulled at his forked beard. ‘You wish to interview
all
of Zelenka's masters?'

‘As many as I can, and I would also like to interview one of the boys.'

Becker tilted his head. The lenses of his gold-rimmed spectacles became white circles of reflected light.

‘Isidor Perger,' said Rheinhardt.

‘Perger, Perger,' repeated the deputy headmaster, straining to put a face to the name. He crossed his legs and drummed the desk with spidery fingers, making his hand crawl forward. Suddenly the drumming stopped and he called out.

‘Ah yes, Perger!'

‘I have reason to believe that he and Zelenka were close friends.'

‘Very well. I'm sure that can be arranged. Will you be needing a room in which to conduct these interviews?'

‘The provision of a room would be much appreciated.'

‘There are some disused classrooms upstairs. Not very comfortable, but sufficiently removed from the general hubbub to ensure peace and quiet.'

Becker subsequently called for Albert, relieved him of his existing duties, and instructed him to act as Rheinhardt's adjutant for the day. However, when Rheinhardt left the deputy headmaster's office – with the shuffling old soldier at his side – he felt as if he was being indulged, rather than assisted.

Rheinhardt followed Albert up a tightly curving spiral staircase, which eventually joined a long corridor with a vaulted ceiling. The space reverberated with the sound of treble voices conjugating a Latin verb by rote. Four boys were walking towards them, all dressed in the uniform with which Rheinhardt was becoming increasingly familiar: low shako, grey tunic and trousers. Each was equipped
with a full-size sabre (one of the boys had his weapon slung too low, and the tip of its scabbard scraped noisily along the floor behind him). Although Rheinhardt knew they must be fifteen or older, their small stature and wide, suspicious eyes suggested a more tender age.

‘Good morning,' said Rheinhardt.

The boys halted, bowed, clicked their heels – and proceeded in the same tight and disconcertingly silent formation.

Albert ascended yet another staircase – this time wider – and escorted Rheinhardt to a musty, remote corner of the building where a row of half-open doors created wedges of ghostly light among the shadows. The ‘treasury smell' was particularly strong, having matured, like a truckle of ripe cheese, in the undisturbed air.

‘You can use any of these, sir,' said the old man, struggling to catch his breath.

The classrooms were strangely melancholy: abandoned desks, a waste bin on its side, scattered paper, and a blackboard on which algebraic symbols constituted only half of an incomplete equation. Rheinhardt selected the least cluttered interior, and asked Albert to fetch the first master on his list.

Lieutenant Osterhagen was a tall broad-shouldered man with ruggedly handsome features. His blond hair was cropped short, and a deep cleft was visible in the middle of his clean-shaven chin. Remarkably (for a gymnastics master) he walked with a limp. When he sat down, with evident discomfort, he made a passing reference to the ‘old Transylvanian complaint'.

‘Transylvanian complaint?' asked Rheinhardt.

‘Nationalists,' said Osterhagen. ‘I took one of their bullets when my regiment was sent to deal with a
situation
– if you know what I mean?'

Rheinhardt wasn't sure that he
did
know what the lieutenant meant.
Nevertheless, he thought it wise to nod politely and proceed with the interview.

‘I'm not surprised he dropped dead,' said Osterhagen. ‘It was obvious there was something wrong with him.'

‘Why do you say that?'

‘He was never well . . .
always
suffering from colds,
always
wrapped up in a scarf and wearing gloves,
always
clutching an exemption certificate from the infirmary.'

‘He wasn't, then, in your opinion, a very strong boy?'

The lieutenant laughed with savage contempt.

‘Good God,
no
. Whatever gave you that idea?'

‘I was told that he used to help his father – lifting heavy crates in a warehouse.'

‘He might have swept the floor, perhaps,' said Osterhagen, twisting his mouth to one side in a sarcastic grin. When the Inspector did not smile back, Osterhagen added with indifference: ‘The boy was destined for a career in the civil service. Not the army.'

Osterhagen typified a certain type of military man. Blustering, bombastic, and appallingly insensitive. When the interview ended, Rheinhardt was relieved to bid the lieutenant good day.

The next two masters had very little to say about Zelenka. Neither of them had known him very well. Indeed, one of them, Doctor Kloester, confused Zelenka with another Czech boy called Cervenka. Consequently, Rheinhardt had to cross out all Kloester's answers and start the interview again.

Herr Lang – the drawing and calligraphy master – was a more promising informant.

‘I was in my rooms when I heard. The headmaster came to the Lodges on Saturday morning to tell us all personally. I couldn't believe it . . . such a terrible tragedy. Do you know what happened, Inspector? Do you know how Zelenka died?'

Rheinhardt shook his head.