Read Online The Lie by Petra Hammesfahr - Free Book Online Page A

see. Lilo works in a gallery, which has its advantages. She’s got me a few pieces at special prices, even a Beckmann.”
    â€œReally?” said Susanne, who had no idea what a Beckmann was. She looked at the second couple, who lived next door to Nadia, on the other side. Wolfgang and Ilona Blasting, both in their late thirties and not quite so nice. He was a policeman, she worked in Berlin as a member of parliament for the Green Party.
    â€œShe can be unbearable, she keeps lecturing you,” said Nadia. “But she’s mostly in Berlin. Unfortunately that gives him too much time to devote to his neighbours. If you know what I mean.”
    She understood only too well, she just had to think of Heller.
    Then Nadia came to her husband. After the detailed descriptions of her immediate neighbours, Susanne assumed she would be given comprehensive information about Michael Trenkler. But Nadia just said vaguely that he worked at some laboratory and came home at irregular hours, often very late. Whether he was actually working or was having fun with his little laboratory mouse, she had no idea. She was no longer interested in his extramural activities.
    Finally Nadia left. The door clicked shut behind her. Outside, a late Intercity express thundered past. It was stuffy in the room and, although she was tired, Susanne couldn’t get to sleep. It wasn’t the fever going
round and round in her head any more, it was Nadia’s voice, like a wind you can hear and feel, but can’t grasp. And images of a life of luxury kept floating up before her inner eye.
    Â 
    On Saturday Nadia came back about midday. She had a scarf wrapped round her head, sunglasses covering half her face and was loaded down with two huge carrier bags. Two bottles of orange juice were sticking out of one of them.
    â€œYou can take those straight back with you,” said Susanne. “I’m allergic to citrus fruits, strawberries, boiled carrots, lentils, celery, apples—”
    Nadia interrupted her list: “Only to food, then?”
    â€œNo, I can’t tolerate deodorants, I come out in a rash.”
    Nadia then checked for any other disparities she hadn’t taken into account. They discovered their blood groups were different, but Nadia didn’t think that was a problem. Susanne also had a slightly raised birthmark below her navel. Nadia had noticed it the previous evening. Her own skin was without any such irregularities. She didn’t see that as a problem either. Susanne wasn’t to let Michael get close enough to inspect her navel. A touch of foundation cream would be sufficient for a casual glance. Other darker patches of skin that might give her away would be scarcely noticeable after a few visits to the solarium, Nadia said.
    The fracture to Susanne’s skull could only be seen on an X-ray, the scar on her scalp was completely covered by hair. She had no other scars. Both had regular teeth, with none missing and no fillings that might betray Susanne when she laughed. Nadia checked everything thoroughly. The only difference to their finger and toe nails was in the length - Nadia kept hers a little shorter. A nail file would soon solve that problem.
    Then Nadia unpacked the bulging carrier bags. As well as the orange juice, she’d brought mineral water, then salads from the delicatessen, sliced bread, ham, eggs and cheese, grapes and bananas, various kinds of biscuits and other confectionery that would help her put on weight. Susanne had no need to worry about where her food for the next few days was going to come from. And that wasn’t all.
    Three times Nadia went back to the car. From her final trip she brought a cardboard box full of clothes, and not just ones she’d discarded this time. On the top was a bag with the name of a classy boutique. Her shopping spree there provided her with an alibi for the hours she was
spending with her stand-in; also she’d bought two of everything.