Free Mortal Mischief by Frank Tallis Page B

fire and a table on which the servant had placed a decanter of brandy, crystal glasses and two freshly cut fat cigars.
Rheinhardt lowered himself into the right-hand chair, the one he always chose, and surrendered his awareness to the flames of the fire. He could hear Liebermann pouring the brandy but did not look up until his friend offered him a cigar. When they were both settled, Liebermann was the first to speak.
'Well, Oskar, you are about to tell me of a murder investigation. And if I'm not mistaken, you'll be wanting my help.'
Rheinhardt laughed: 'Is it that obvious?'
'Yes,' said Liebermann. 'The body was discovered on Thursday afternoon and you had to break down a door to enter the apartment. The victim was a young woman in her twenties – and quite attractive. She had lost a considerable amount of blood, which had gushed from a fatal wound, staining her . . . let me think: was it a blue dress?' Liebermann took a sip of brandy and smiled at his friend: 'This is good, try some.'
Rheinhardt responded to Liebermann's invitation and nodded with approval before saying, 'So, how did I give myself away this time?'
'Earlier this evening' began Liebermann, 'we were discussing Schubert and you unintentionally confused the Death and the Maiden string quartet with The Trout quintet! Now I know for a fact that you are very familiar with the Schubert repertoire. So I considered that the mistake, this slip of the tongue, was significant. Being, as you are, a detective inspector, the kind of death that naturally preoccupies you most, is murder. The term "maiden" implies youth and beauty . . . Putting all this together, I inferred the influence of an unconscious memory. An unconscious memory of a murdered young woman.'
Rheinhardt shook his head in disbelief.
'All right. But what about the blood – the blood on the blue dress? How did you work that out?'
'When we were performing the Hugo Wolf song – Auf dem See – you stumbled over the word "blood" on both renditions. I took this to be confirmation of my earlier speculation. When I asked you just now what you intended to buy your wife on your wedding anniversary, you said a dress. But you couldn't, at first, remember the colour of the material that her dressmaker had recommended; however, some time later, you were able to say that it was blue. I took this to mean that the idea of a blue dress was being repressed.'
Liebermann flicked his cigar, letting a cylinder of ash fall into the tray.
'And the date of the investigation? How did you know it was Thursday?'
'We bumped into each other outside The Imperial – remember?'
'Yes, of course, but—'
'You were in a terrible rush. I made an educated guess – nothing more psychological than that, I'm afraid.'
Rheinhardt leaned towards his friend.
'Incidentally, thank you again for allowing me to requisition your cab. Did you get very wet?'
'Yes. Very.'
'Oh, I am sorry . . .'
Rheinhardt looked inordinately pained – his sagging, melancholy eyes expressed considerable anguish and pity.
'It really wasn't that bad, Oskar,' said Liebermann, embarrassed by his friend's contrition.
Rheinhardt smiled weakly and continued to puzzle over Liebermann's deductions: 'Max, you said that I had to break a door down – to get into the apartment. Did you guess that, too?'
'No. You've been rubbing your right shoulder in a distracted fashion for most of the evening. You always do that after you've broken a door down. I expect it's quite bruised. Might I recommend that you use your foot next time?'
Rheinhardt paused for a few moments before allowing himself to laugh. 'Remarkable. That really was very perceptive, Max.'
Liebermann leaned back in his chair and drew on his cigar. 'But,' he added, 'what I haven't been able to work out is why you need my help? There must be something different – or special – about this case?'
Rheinhardt's expression darkened.
'Yes. There is.'
Liebermann turned to face his friend.
'Go on . . .'
'The victim,' said Rheinhardt,