Read Online In Matto's Realm: A Sergeant Studer Mystery by Friedrich Glauser - Free Book Online

illness has nothing to do with his injuries."
    "What is it then?"
    "Skidsoffreenia."
    "What?"
    "Skidsoffreenia," Gilgen repeated, loud and clear.
"We did it on the course."
    "And what about Pieterlen?"
    "Skidsoffreenia."
    "But recently he hasn't been, er, you know" - Studer
tapped his forehead - "at all?"
    "No, he's been quite normal."
    "How long has he been in the clinic, then?"
    "Four years."
    "Why so long?" Studer wanted to know.
    "Before that he spent three years in prison. He
cracked up in there."
    "Why was he in prison?"
    "He murdered his child!" Gilgen whispered, telling
Studer to ask Dr Laduner if he wanted the details.

    There was a pause, then Studer asked one final
question.
    "And what do you think of the Director?"
    "Of Herr Dr Borstli? A randy old goat."
    And with that the redhead who had passed with a
run of four to the ace of spades walked off, leaving
Studer standing in the courtyard.

     

A free lunch
    When he got to the middle of the courtyard, Studer
stopped and had a look round. His first impression
had been correct, the clinic was built in the form of an
angular U. He was surrounded on three sides by twoand three-storeyed buildings, all interconnected.
Behind him was the casino, to the right the men's
wing, to the left the women's. And in front was a flatroofed building, long and low, with a chimney at the
back corner spewing out sluggish clouds of black
smoke.
    Through the wide-open door the sergeant could see
huge cauldrons heated by steam. They were tipped
forward and the kitchen maids were filling large containers with soup and overcooked macaroni, as well as
large bowls with lettuce. In the middle of all the commotion, a fat individual of the female sex was waddling
silently over the tiles. Silently, that is, in the sense that
her footsteps were not audible. Her voice, on the other
hand, was; from time to time she emitted a screech
that galvanized the girls into action. Studer watched;
he found the whole business interesting and it didn't
last that long, anyway. Soon two long crocodiles, one
on the left, one on the right, emerged from doors that
were concealed by the corner of the building. Women
to the left, men to the right. Some of the women were
wearing white caps, either starched or soft, others were
bareheaded; almost all the men wore white aprons: the
nurses were taking lunch to wards P to D.

    The kitchen maids disappeared, it was impossible to
tell where to, and the fat individual of the female sex
who could waddle so silently appeared in the doorway
and nodded at Studer. Studer returned her greeting
with a smile. The woman's cheeks were as red and
shiny as a ripe tomato.
    Was he the new cop? she wanted to know.
    He was, Studer replied. From the criminal investigation department. "Sergeant Studer's the name."
    "And mine's Fraulein KOlla. Won't you come in?"
she asked. She'd gone out with a gendarme once, she
immediately continued, but that was a long time ago.
The gendarme had turned out to be a swine who'd
dumped her for a rich farmer's daughter.
    "I can certainly come in," said Studer, "but Dr
Laduner's expecting me for lunch, so I can't stay
long."
    "Lunch!" exclaimed Fraulein Kolla contemptuously.
He should have lunch with her, she'd do him a steak,
just they way he liked it. And then they could have a
little chat; she knew all sorts of things that might be of
interest to the sergeant. Especially about what had
gone on the previous night.
    Studer thanked her for her kind invitation, but he
wasn't sure whether Dr Laduner wouldn't feel ...
    "Oh, don't you bother your head about that," said
Fraulein Kolla in her vigorous manner, "I'll give Dr
Laduner a ring and that'll settle it. At least here," she
added, "you'll get something decent to drink." She
didn't seem to have a great opinion of Dr Laduner's
wine cellar.
    Fraulein Kolla was a real chatterbox. She started
talking about her young days, about other men, who
... He would have to