Read Online Time of Trial by Michael Pryor - Free Book Online Page B

House was the meeting place of the Holmland intelligentsia in exile, von Stralick explained once the patrons settled and the accordionist resumed, to Caroline’s irritation. Over the buzz of serious Holmlandish conversation and the gentle steaming of giant urns, Aubrey surveyed the room. Men and women, mostly middle-aged or older. The men had accepted that bald heads, beards and spectacles were essential if they were to be part of this gathering. Some, perhaps lacking confidence, took on all three. The women were less uniform in their dress and appearance, but were consistently intense in their participation in arguments ranging from, if Aubrey’s Holmlandish was up to scratch, the role of free will, the purpose of life and the puzzle of collective unconscious to whether dogs have souls.
    Von Stralick was relaxed, jovial and vastly amused at Aubrey’s ordeal. Kiefer didn’t look up. He had his head in his hands. ‘Come, Fitzwilliam,’ von Stralick said after Aubrey, George and Caroline had joined them at the table, ‘tell me again about your buying a pistol. Most risible.’
    Aubrey decided that von Stralick didn’t look like a clandestine enemy agent keeping a low profile.
    â€˜It wasn’t funny,’ George said.
    â€˜No, of course not,’ von Stralick said. ‘Not from your point of view, anyway.’ He nudged his silent tablemate. ‘What do you say, Otto? Laughable, no?’
    Kiefer groaned again, but still didn’t lift his head.
    â€˜My cousin is distressed,’ von Stralick said. ‘Ashamed of what happened to you.’
    â€˜Wait,’ Aubrey said. ‘I’ve just run into a number of baffling things at once.’ He counted on his fingers. ‘Firstly, Kiefer is your cousin?’
    Von Stralick beamed. ‘Of course. My mother’s sister’s little boy. Ambitious, brilliant, but a little erratic.’
    â€˜So you didn’t kidnap him from Greythorn?’
    â€˜Kidnap? Of course not. He telephoned me to say he needed to leave the university.’
    Caroline leaned forward. ‘But witnesses said you bundled him into a motorcar.’
    Von Stralick glanced at his cousin. ‘You’ve seen him, no? Sometimes his body and his brain seem to have only a passing acquaintance. He tripped himself while getting into the motorcar, I caught him, he became tangled. He was lucky not to dislocate a knee.’
    â€˜Compelling,’ George said. ‘But why was he fleeing?’
    â€˜I had to.’ The muffled voice came from Kiefer, whose head was still buried in his arms. ‘Because of what happened to Fitzwilliam.’ He lifted a woebegone face. ‘I turned him into a killer.’
    â€˜And I take it from your reaction,’ Aubrey said, ‘that this was not your intention?’
    Kiefer straightened. His eyes were wide and he held up his hands, palm first, in abject surrender. ‘Me? No! How could I? How could you believe I could? I would never do such a thing!’
    Either he’s the world’s best actor , Aubrey thought, or the poor fellow is genuinely mortified . ‘I see. So you’re as much a victim here as I am?’
    Kiefer beat at his chest with a fist. ‘I suffered when I heard. As if my heart was torn from me and used to assault me about the head.’
    Caroline tapped the table with a finger. ‘And how exactly did you hear of Aubrey’s plight?’
    Aubrey turned and stared at her. Of course. This was crucial.
    Kiefer still looked miserable, unaware of the intense scrutiny turned his way. ‘Professor Glauber telephoned and told me what I’d done. It was he who suggested it was a good idea for me to leave.’ He craned his neck and looked around the room. ‘I wanted to thank him for his warning but they say he hasn’t been here for some time.’
    Von Stralick caught Aubrey’s eye. ‘Professor Glauber was lecturer in metallurgy at the