Picture in the dark

Lora Slámová

Table of Contents

Copyright

Chapter one: Ordinary work

Chapter two: Death of an old love

Chapter three: An artist

Chapter four: Life is not easy

Chapter five: Testimony of a friend next door

Chapter six: The mystery of one evening

Chapter seven: A game of chess

Chapter eight: Just like a beast

Chapter nine: Happiness maker

Chapter ten: A Christmas gift

Acknowledgements

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.

First published 2015

© Lora Slámová

Cover © Lora Slámová

© Mgr. Tomáš Zahradníček - TZ-one

ISBN: 978-80-7539-002-8 (ePub)

ISBN: 978-80-7539-003-5 (mobi)

ISBN: 978-80-7539-004-2 (PDF)

Chapter one: Ordinary work

Ordinary Thursday afternoon; I am in a car on the corner of Jahodová street in Prague 10, and I am waiting for Mr. Velínský to come out of the entrance of the number 254, accompanied by his next mistress. I would prefer playing a game of chess with Professor Skalický, which is something we usually do on Thursdays, but I have been stuck here for over two hours instead. This kind of work does not make me happy. And why should it? About three months ago, Marie Velínská contacted me and asked for my services. She was absolutely sure her husband has a mistress, for she had accidentally read his e-mail. Well, I could speculate, how accidental it was; I think the woman was fully occupied by what her husband was doing and with whom. She has been snooping around so vehemently that she has routinely been reading his SMS messages, searching through his jacket, pants and a briefcase in which she has allegedly been watching the number of Viagra pills. Alas, when one was missing; she would give her husband a hard time, making him hysterical scenes, even though she would never admit what she knew. I think Mr. Velínský knew well where this was coming from, but he pretended he did not care, without getting out of his rut. They had two daughters, both having the university degree, and despite the fact they were in their thirties already, they would not leave their parents‘ house. And why should they; after all, their mother kept doing everything for them, they had enough money, so they could keep indulging in their only passion in the form of exuberant parties, in an attempt to become celebrities and make their way into the modelling world. The truth is, they weren’t too successful, but they were not going to give up. So Renata started to date an elderly rich man, without being bothered by the fact that he is married; after all, she could travel around the world with him and spend weekends in Monaco, where she had her own apartment. There was only this little problem that her married boyfriend had to find time for her in his already busy private life. Some years ago, Marina got to the finals of the Czech Miss, but it was obvious that she was affected by that, and it changed her life; but not for the good. She has never coped with the thought, that she did not become the Miss, probably being submerged in the mirror of her beauty. And so, in an attempt to make her way in the world, she did everything possible – changed the colour and length of her hair to resemble the girl who actually became the Miss as much as possible. Then she was greatly pleased by the strangers asking her on the street for her autograph, thinking they met the real beauty queen.

She mistakenly believed that she was getting closer to her dream that way. She dated only with football and hockey players. It amused me, that whenever they got to know her a little better, dear Marina got dumped. She has now changed her strategy a little, and became acquainted with a tabloid photographer, who, of course, sometimes, somewhere, as if casually, took a picture of her, and so she rejoiced that she can see her face in the papers, hence becoming a celebrity. It seems curious to me, what values some of us prefer. Beauty and style, emaciated anorexics like a meter, the nature of their personality completely lost. But to understand this family perfectly, you have to start with the parents, Marie and Alexandr Velínský. I recognized quickly, with whom I have the honour: a hysterical mother with no self-confidence, suffering with disintegration of personality, weakness, and a fear of personal failure. She did not want to lose what she has achieved in her marriage and that she was an entrepreneur’s wife. She had a lion’s share on the education of their daughters, inculcating them from their childhood that they are something more than the others. Her own desire for success and uniqueness was apparently reflected in that. Her husband, as it is common these days, had gradually reached his position, and along with his achievements, of course, his appetite for a change and exploring new horizons increased. A typical example of greed for money and power. At home, in the family where nobody worked and everyone was just waiting for benefits and position in the society, he had to choke. As an escape, he had a variety of mistresses, which he was dating on this address; it was an apartment, borrowed from a colleague from the company. Every week, he would bring his secretaries, colleagues, and acquaintances here; he really was a true a hunter. I do not know whether his wife had a full control of his Viagra pills supply, because considering the crowds I have seen over the time, he would need at least a juggernaut.

When Marie first came to me, I did not understand why she wants to use my services, when she knows about the infidelity of her husband already. But she insisted that she wants to have tangible evidence of his infidelity in her hands, so I agreed. If she wants to spend his hard earned money, it’s her choice. Apparently she wanted to give her husband hard time, holding all the aces in the form of the photos.

As I sat there and waited for Mr. Velínský, my phone rang.

„Yes, lieutenant, nice to hear you.“

„Hey Adrian, would you have a moment for me?“ came from the phone, and from the expression in the voice, I sensed it was a serious matter.

„For you, Jiří, always. So in an hour at my place?“

The lieutenant agreed. When I ended the conversation, Mr. Velínský finally came out of the number 254; I pulled out the camera and took another picture for the collection. I was glad that I could wrap it up here today, and I drove home as quickly as I could. The traffic was fortunately quite smooth, so I arrived fairly soon. I indulged a shower and got ready for the lieutenant.

Chapter two: Death of an old love

The arrival of the lieutenant disturbed me a little, the voice on the phone was not lying; he looked quite worried.

„What happened, my friend? You look rather worried… „I greeted him.

„Adrian, please make me a strong cup of coffee, to give me a little relief.“

A minute later I returned with coffee and I noticed the lieutenant sitting quietly in a chair, staring into the distance through the open window like a body without a soul. I put down his coffee down in front of him and sat down behind the desk.

„So what happened, Jiří, I’ve known you for a long time and I’ve seen you this pensive only once, when it concerned your mother’s illness. I hope that everything is fine at home, „I said worriedly.

„No, everything is fine with me. You know, such an unpleasant thing happened.“ He was sipping his coffee for a while, and then began to talk. „I was called to a case of a women suicide. We went out of Prague to Rudná, to a beautiful little villa with a garden. At first glance, every other person would envy; peaceful atmosphere, beautiful equipment; well, absolutely perfect.“

I interrupted him. „So it is hard to imagine that someone would commit a suicide in such place, and yet it happened, tell me everything.“

„Yes, some Klára Markovič, a beautiful blond woman, 48 years old, a businesswoman. She had a warehouse with clothing close to Prague; she was successful in her business, hosting fashion shows, she even had clients among the celebrities. And now a suicide.“

„Who had found her before they called you?“

„Her neighbour, Světlana Retková. That fateful evening, they were supposed to go to the fashion show together, but when Mrs. Klára was late, the neighbour went to look, and through the window from the garden she saw the horror and called us immediately. Now she is in the care of our psychologist, she was quite upset.“

„How exactly did she die, my friend?“

„We found her hanged on the handle of the bedroom door. There were traces of sedatives and sleeping pills found in her blood. She left a suicide note on the bedside table. And here comes the most interesting part. Our captain knew the text of the letter by heart.“

„How come? He knew the victim?“

„Yes, it was his great love from the secondary school; they were dating for about three years. But then they went to different colleges, so their paths diverged.“

„I suppose, my friend, she wrote him a few lines at that time, and you found the same lines on the bedside table.“

„Yes, the captain said that both went into the theatre club, where they could play in various plays, using quotes of literary giants, and then when their paths diverged, Klara wrote him a verse to life. He remembered her as a witty and bright girl, for they often had their conversation at the secondary school in verses.“

„And the same verse was on the bedside table,“ I was thinking aloud. „Was she married, did she have any children?“

„She was married with a man named Dražan Markovič, and they only had one child, but it is already dead.“

„That name, is it someone from the former Yugoslavia?“ I asked.

„Yes, more precisely a Croatian, and he has a bar in the Old Town.“

„What happened to the child?“

„I don’t know exactly, we are working on it, I only know that it died, probably around the age of nine.“

„Has your captain been in touch with the victim? Has he perhaps seen her since after the school?“

„Just once, in 2013 at the school reunion.“

„And nothing alarmed him, did she look happy?“

„He says she was emaciated and just kept smiling, but he did not find it fit for her, as if she was hiding something and played an act for the others.“

„So I guess he probably did not have time to talk to her alone.“

„No, actually he even felt like she was avoiding him. Now, when he has found out who is the victim, and after reading the letter, he instructed me to concentrate on this case, because he felt something is not right. I came to you for help; I know you pay attention even to tiny details, of which the cases consist. So what do you say, Adrian, will you help me with it?“

„I’ll help you, but I must get a green light, and I’ll also meet with the captain, I want to learn everything myself. Oh, and Jiří, have you got the suicide note?“

„Sure, here it is, I thought that you’ll want it. I’ve also brought you some photos from the scene. I’ll have to go now, but you got the green light from me, I’ll be thankful for any help. I must go, Adrian, but we’ll stay in touch, bye.“

There was a stack of photos left on the table, along with a piece of paper, probably a page torn from a diary. On the iridescent sheet, the quote was written in wonderful letters: A glooming peace this morning with it brings. The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head. Go hence to have more talk of these sad things. Some shall be pardoned, and some punished. Well, Romeo and Juliet. „Some punished“; was she perhaps feeling guilty, but against whom? These letters, something was not right, not a hint of a hidden restlessness or agitation. But who would write, in a difficult moment, Shakespeare’s beautiful verses on a coloured paper. Could it be a message? But for whom? I took the pictures and began to examine them. Suddenly I found an image of a beautiful woman. Dressed in elegant black evening dress, with a charming slit, black pumps on her feet. On her right hand, a golden bracelet decorated with white stones glittered, on the left one a golden ring with white stone; it was probably a set.

There was no mess in the room; on the contrary, everything was perhaps even too well arranged, with one exception. On the right bedside table, a coloured paper lied; the letter of farewell. A torn flower, probably a rose of red colour lied there on the green bedspread. Her remains were scattered all over, which most likely happened in a rage. Was our victim, in the last moments of her life, angry with someone?

My attention was focused on her. I noticed that she looked relaxed. Her body was sitting next to the door and if it wasn’t for the strap around her neck, which was tied and wrapped around the door handle, it seemed like she was just resting there. She looked relaxed and calm, but something disconcerted me, as I was examining the photos. I was not sure at all, that it really was a suicide, it looked like a scene from a theatre performance, but with the exception that there is a real death at the end. There were too many questions, quite unusual for a typical suicide. For me, it meant only one thing – to get to work as soon as possible.

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