by Graham Brack
‘Damn!’ said Slonský. ‘We’ll have to alert the police up there. It’s probably not a bad idea for us to drive up and see what we can find. There’s not a moment to lose.’
Navrátil and Peiperová ran back up the stairs to fetch their coats.
‘Where are you going?’ called Slonský.
‘We’re getting our things,’ answered Navrátil. ‘You said there’s not a moment to lose.’
‘There’s not a moment to lose after coffee, I meant. First things first. It could be a long day. I don’t want us fainting from hunger.’
Mucha coughed eloquently.
‘Yes, humble servant?’ Slonský said.
‘Far be it from me to poke my untrained and distinctively non-detective nose into things, but you might want to look at the second page.’
Navrátil belatedly did so. ‘He’s taken a load of cash out of his account.’
‘When?’ demanded Slonský.
‘Last Monday.’
‘Where?’
Navrátil swallowed hard. ‘He was in Most.’
Chapter 13
Peiperová was thrown the keys.
‘You drive,’ said Slonský. ‘I’ll sit up the front. Navrátil can go in the baby seat because he’s the shortest.’
‘It’s just as well I don’t have a complex about my height,’ Navrátil remarked ruefully.
‘He’s not that small,’ Peiperová jumped to his defence. ‘Anyway, they don’t make diamonds as big as bricks.’
Slonský looked out of the side window so they couldn’t see him smiling. It felt good to be back as a team of three again. He was confident that they would get somewhere now. Without Peiperová he had felt as if one arm was tied behind his back.
‘It’s a shame this car doesn’t have a siren,’ he said. ‘Navrátil, wind down the window and make wah-wah noises.’
‘I don’t think that’ll fool anyone, sir,’ Navrátil replied. He too felt a curious sense of relaxation. He had never lost his positivity but it had been tested a bit over the last three months or so.
There was no denying that Peiperová was a much better driver than Rajka. On the other hand, she didn’t have the better part of three and a half litres of engine to play with. On top of that, she was scrupulously attentive to traffic lights and give way signs and kept meticulously to her own side of the road.
‘Thank you for getting me back, sir,’ she said.
‘Hold your horses. It’s only temporary. Colonel Urban realised we were really stretched at the moment. Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his PA for his friends.’
‘I don’t think that’s exactly what the bible says,’ Navrátil observed.
‘Well, I bow to your insider knowledge on that,’ Slonský told him, ‘but it’s how I feel. Of course, while we’re on the abduction we can’t be looking into the Dostál matter, which is what Colonel Urban really wants me to push ahead with, but I think Major Rajka can manage that himself now I’ve given him a nudge in the right direction. Hang on, lass, that bakery has a special offer on cream cakes. Pull over.’
‘I’ll pull in up there on the right, sir.’
‘Suit yourself. It only means you’ll have an extra sixty metres to walk to the bakery.’
Slonský produced a banknote suitable for the task in hand, and Peiperová trotted back down the road, returning in a few minutes with a large bag.
‘You’d better not eat while you’re driving,’ Slonský told her. ‘We’ll save some for you.’
Peiperová dipped her hand into the bag and fished out a cake. ‘I’m a woman. I can multitask,’ she said, and took a large bite.
Navrátil decided they ought to talk a bit of shop on the way.
‘Where do you think Nágl could be staying, sir? We don’t know of any friends so he’d have to pay cash, but even the money he took out on Monday wouldn’t go far if he’s in a hotel or guest house.’
‘Look on the bright side, lad. If he’s still in Most, that must mean he hasn’t found Broukalová yet. And unless he’s managed to get a new car, which I doubt, he’s doing his searching by public transport and on foot, which will slow him down.’
‘So where do we start, sir?’
‘Let’s see if the cash machine where he withdrew his money is covered by any cameras,’ Slonský decided. ‘Then we’ll play it by ear. We may have to stay over, so I hope you’ve brought your nightwear.’
‘I can manage,’ Navrátil said.
They both looked quizzically at Peiperová.
‘I’m saying nothing,’ she said. ‘And it’s none of your business anyhow.’
Slonský was unsurprised to find that there were no useful cameras anywhere near the ATM, so he deployed his troops to minimise the time that they would have to spend there.
‘You two go to the kindergarten and see if the name Broukalová means anything to the Director. If that Katja woman isn’t there, drop in on her house. You’ve got the address, haven’t you?’
Peiperová agreed that she had. ‘Katja Švandová, wasn’t it, sir?’
Slonský agreed, although if the truth were told he could not remember her surname exactly. It ended -ová, but then most women’s names did.
‘I’m going to visit Lucie Jerneková. She left before the events but if Broukalová used to work there perhaps she would have known her.’
‘Where will we meet, sir?’ asked Peiperová, ever practical.
‘At Ms Jerneková’s house.’
‘I don’t know where that is, sir.’
‘No, but you will when you’ve dropped me off there, won’t you?’
Slonský produced Lucie’s address and gave Peiperová some cursory directions. He somehow managed to find the bar they had gone to and worked out how to get to the flat from there, suggesting to Peiperová and Navrátil that the bar would be a good place to meet up when they were done.
He banged on the door which was flung open by Lucie, who was about to launch into some street Czech when she realised who it was.
‘Oh, it’s you,’ she said.
‘Undoubtedly true,’ said Slonský. ‘I’m certainly me. Have you got a minute?’
Lucie shrugged and stepped aside to allow him to go in.
‘Sit on the sofa. I can perch on the wobbly chair,’ she said.
‘Thanks. I won’t be long. First, have you ever been arrested?’
‘No!’ said Lucie indignantly.
‘That’s good. It makes life easier.’
‘Why? Can’t criminals be witnesses now?’
‘Not a problem so far as I know. I wasn’t asking for that reason.’
‘So what were you asking for?’
‘I wondered if you’d ever thought of joining the police.’
Lucie goggled at him. She was obviously in the company of someone with a loose grip on reality.
‘Why would I do that?’ she said at length.
‘Steady work. You can get accommodation, at least when you start. You seem like an observant, honest type. And it would be reasonable money, so long as you only want to eat properly every other day.’
‘That’s what I do now,’ she said.
‘Then you’ve got nothing to lose. I’d put in a word for you.’
‘Sorry — is this some sort of weird job interview?’
Peiperová and Navrátil had been perplexed to discover that the Director had been suspended. Whether it was true or not, the staff seemed to think that Slonský had been responsible for this. As a result, a couple were nakedly hostile while others offered them coffee and the more comfortable chairs.
‘It seems that Viktorie Dlasková had been living with a woman called Broukalová. We wondered if any of you knew anyone of that name,’ Navrátil asked.
There was a general shaking of heads.
‘We’ve got a poor quality photograph of her,’ Peiperová added, showing it to each of them in turn.
‘Goodness, she’s taken a thumping, hasn’t she?’ remarked one of the teachers.
The handyman asked to see the picture again. ‘I think if you saw anyone with a shiner like that you’d remember it,’ he said. ‘I’ll keep my eyes open when I’m out and about, but I’m sure I haven’t seen her.’
‘Do you think she might come here?’ asked a nervous young teacher.
‘I doubt it,’ said Navrátil. ‘I think she’ll stay clear of the kindergarten, but it’s not that big a town. She must be staying with friends or family but we can’t find anyone of that name in any records we have.’
‘Not everyone keeps their ID information up to date, I suppose,’ the young teacher replied.
The two detectives walked back to the car.
‘I was sure someone would know the name,’ said Navrátil.
‘Obviously not,’ Peiperová answered. ‘We’re no further forward. I hope Captain Slonský is having better luck.’
Slonský had been busy expounding his master plan to Lucie Jerneková.
‘You want me to do my basic training, then come to work for you?’
‘That’s the long and short of it.’
‘You don’t know me.’
‘I didn’t know Navrátil when he came to work for me, and that’s worked out pretty well. At least I’ve spoken to you. I didn’t know him from Adam when he turned up for his first day.’
‘I might fail the course.’
‘Yes, you might,’ Slonský conceded, ‘but I don’t think so. I’ve seen a lot of police in my time, so I think I’m qualified to judge. And when you look at some of the no-hopers we currently employ, I’d say you’d have a glittering career ahead of you. Anyway, think it over. The vacancy won’t be there for long.’
‘But I wouldn’t be working for you straight away, and you need help now, you said.’
‘This is where I’ve been unusually cunning, even by my standards. I don’t have the money yet to pay you, but while you’re in basic training, I don’t have to. But I’ve been promised the money so long as I take on a woman.’
‘I qualify on that basis,’ Lucie said.
‘I’d worked that out for myself. I’m not a detective for nothing.’
‘Is that what you drove all this way for?’
‘What? Ah, no, I’m glad you reminded me. Does the name Broukalová mean anything to you? We think someone who calls herself Broukalová may have abducted Viktorie.’
Lucie appeared to be in deep thought.
‘The answer can only be yes or no,’ Slonský prompted her.
‘It’s yes, sort of,’ she replied. ‘I don’t know a Broukalová, but I’m pretty sure that one of the staff had a dad called Broukal. So presumably Broukalová was her maiden name. I just can’t remember who it was.’
Slonský slapped his leg in annoyance. That’s how she had managed to get an ID card in the name of Broukalová. She must have turned up with her old card and some kind of sob story about having lost the one in-between. If the clerk had done their job properly they would have looked for proof that one had ever been issued, but if you’re surrendering an old one that has your picture on most of them wouldn’t worry.
‘Would a hot chocolate help you think?’
‘No,’ replied Lucie. ‘But a beer might.’
When Navrátil and Peiperová walked into the bar they were surprised to see Slonský laughing with a young woman. He was in a very good mood, which boded well for the investigation.
‘Meet Lucie Jerneková,’ he said. ‘She has come up with a name for us. We’re looking for Magdalena Novotná, née Broukalová.’
‘So is Mr Novotný masquerading as Nágl?’ asked Navrátil.
‘I doubt it. It seems that he was off the scene when she left. They’d broken up and she was going to make a new life somewhere else. No doubt we can begin to flesh that out now that we’ve got a target name. In the meantime, order yourselves a drink if you want. Put it on my tab.’
He is in a good mood, thought Navrátil. Either that, or he’s had a bang on the head.
‘Shouldn’t we have stayed on to pursue enquiries locally?’ asked Peiperová as they drove back. Navrátil was having a turn at the wheel so she was sitting in the back.
‘We can probably do more at our desks than we can here. Or, more accurately, you and Navrátil can. I can never get the hang of those computers. She’s stayed safe so far and once we find her old address we can ask the local police to drop by and see if she’s there. Although I’d probably rather we did it ourselves.’
Navrátil had an ethical question to ask. ‘Sir, isn’t it poor practice to take witnesses for a drink?’
‘Yes, absolutely shocking. But she was dehydrated. Consider it as first aid. And she wasn’t being consulted as a witness. By that time it was a job interview. Navrátil, I think if you’re going to swerve across lanes like that you’re expected to signal.’
‘Sorry, sir. You took me by surprise a bit.’
‘And don’t think I didn’t spot that. I’ll explain it to you. We need a bit of gender balance, lad.’
‘Gender balance, sir?’
‘Navrátil, if you’re going to do that thing where you repeat the last couple of words of each of my sentences I may attack you while the balance of my mind is disturbed. Yes, gender balance. There are five of us in the team. Four are men, unless Hauzer is a better actor than I give him credit for. Only one is female.’ He dropped to a stage whisper. ‘Don’t turn round but she’s in the back.’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘When Krob joins us that will be five to one, and the deal I have with HR is that I’ll fill the next vacancy with a woman. And we obviously don’t want to advertise it widely or we could be saddled with somebody completely unsuitable. Now, I have been keeping my eyes peeled in the canteen, and no obvious candidate has come to my notice. Ms Jerneková, on the other hand, is astute, aggressive, streetwise and generally nobody’s fool. She reminds me of my younger self, if you disregard some small cosmetic differences. I can make something of her. Or, more truthfully, you can, Peiperová.’
‘Me, sir?’
‘Well, if Navrátil is helping Krob to settle in, we can’t have you at a loose end, so you can have Jerneková to help you. If she signs up, which I think she will because the cleaning job isn’t doing too well at the minute.’
‘But you have to have a certain minimum experience before you can be a detective, sir,’ Peiperová protested.
‘Yes, but not before you can join the crime department. We just won’t call her a detective. We’ve actually got the same problem with Krob, who is joining from the City Police. Technically, City Police are civilians, so it wouldn’t count towards his service. Fortunately a nice man in HR explained that this is how we get round it. And if that works for Krob it’ll work for Jerneková.’
‘She’ll still have to do her basic training, sir,’ Navrátil pointed out.
‘So she will, but she’ll finish it just as Peiperová’s year is up. Couldn’t be better.’
Peiperová and Navrátil knew that in the long run they would not be able to work together, but since Slonský appeared to ignore every other employment rule they had been hoping he might have turned a blind eye to that one too and allowed them to carry on working in tandem despite their romantic attachment.
‘You surely can’t have expected to work together as a couple once I’m not there to exercise chaperoning duties?’ Slonský asked.
‘No, sir,’ they chorused.
‘Good, because I won’t last forever and the white powder I put in Navrátil’s coffee to curb his urges is expensive.’
Navrátil decided that this was a good moment to change the subject.
‘Do you think we’ll find her, sir?’
‘It’s more likely than not. It’s very difficult not to come to the notice of authority these days. As soon as she buys a phone or sees a doctor she’ll be traceable. It’s just a case of us keeping aler
t. Of course, we don’t all have to be alert at the same time, so you two keep your eyes peeled while I inspect the back of my eyelids.’
He leaned back in his seat and tipped his hat over his face.
Chapter 14
The following morning started very well. Slonský was just collecting his first coffee of the day when Rajka strode into the canteen and shepherded him to a nearby table.
‘I thought you’d like to see this,’ he said, and handed Slonský a letter from the Ministry of the Interior.
‘Let’s see. “I am directed by the Minister to thank you for your courtesy in keeping him informed of the context of a current investigation. I am further directed to clarify that the officer in question is not currently being considered for any senior position within the police service.” So what does that mean?’
‘It means that Dr Pilik wants nothing to do with Dostál and his application for the Chief of Police job has been cut into small squares and hung on a nail in the gents’ toilet.’
‘How appropriate a metaphor.’
‘It doesn’t mean Colonel Urban is guaranteed to get it though.’
‘We’ve done all we can. And, frankly, if not him, then who?’
‘Who indeed?’
‘Can I show it to him?’
‘Certainly not. It’s a confidential letter to me.’
‘So if it’s confidential why are you showing it to me?’
‘Because I know that you’ll tell him all about it, and then I won’t have to.’
‘I might not tell him just yet in case he asks for the return of Peiperová. I’ll have to think of somewhere to send her before I say anything. Somewhere that doesn’t allow mobile phones.’
‘Do you want anything looking up in the police archives?’
‘That would be ideal, but I don’t think I do.’
‘He doesn’t need to know that.’
‘Good point. Thanks for bringing me this good news. Now let’s see what sequence of musical chairs is going to change a lot of top jobs.’
