Free The Riddle of Sphinx Island by R. T. Raichev Page A

willing to give her a lift?
    He laughed as he said this and then he walked out of her room.
    Out in the corridor Oswald lit a cigar. He then strolled leisurely to his room, humming a little tune under his breath.

10
THE LIVES OF OTHERS
    Major Payne was to point out later that without John de Coverley firing his gun at Oswald Ramskritt, the murder wouldn’t have taken place. In his not-so-humble opinion, the shooting incident in the library was cardinal to the whole affair.
    Antonia agreed. She thought of it as a kind of a butterfly effect.

    ‘I am all right. I really am. It was a shock. It was quite awful, but I am – I am used to it. He’s done it before, it’s happened before, yes, but perhaps he’s getting worse. That’s the kind of thing he does when he is upset or rather when he gets drunk after he’s been upset by something. It’s happened before. He shows his true nature.’ She tried to smile. ‘Please don’t look so concerned. He cannot cope with crises.’
    It was later that same night and Ella was talking to Doctor Klein, who had come to her room to see how she was. He insisted that she should have some brandy.
    She wiped the tears from her eyes with a determined gesture. ‘When he gets upset, he needs a woman to take it out on. It has to be a woman. That’s his idea of a catharsis. I’ve reached the conclusion he hates women.’
    ‘I believe you are right,’ Doctor Klein said in his detached way.
    ‘It’s perhaps something to do with the fact he had a terrible childhood. Sometimes I am convinced he is possessed. Or else it’s some ineradicable psychological quirk. I am sure you can come up with the exact definition of what is wrong with him.’
    ‘I do not intend to come up with an exact definition.’
    ‘He is completely insensitive. I don’t suppose he would have been able to do what he did in the early 1980 s if he had had normal human feelings,’ Ella said thoughtfully. ‘He wouldn’t have been able to do the job properly if he had been sensitive …’
    ‘What job? What did he do in the early 1980 s?’
    ‘Oh. I thought you knew. Oswald used to work for the CIA. He was a spy. One of those “unofficial” ones. I am surprised he hasn’t told you anything about it. I thought he told you everything.’
    ‘I thought so too, but he hasn’t said a word about his spying work in Germany, no.’
    ‘You know he was in Germany then? So he must have told you?’
    Doctor Klein shrugged. ‘He may have mentioned Germany, yes, though he never said what he did there.’
    ‘Perhaps he felt constrained by the fact you were a German?’
    ‘That is the likeliest explanation.’
    ‘Well, he was a Romeo spy.’
    Doctor Klein slowly rose and walked towards the open window. He stood there, looking out. There was a full moon and, where it touched it, the sea resembled molten silver. It was very quiet …
    ‘A Romeo spy … I don’t think I have heard the term used before.’
    His voice sounded odd – a little – weary?
    Her cheek, the spot where Oswald had slapped her, was still throbbing. She thought it might be a little swollen. She had extremely sensitive skin.
    ‘Oswald used to work for the CIA. He was extremely good-looking as a young man. He was in his late twenties or early thirties at the time. Not unlike the young Robert Redford, if photos are anything to go by. Women found him irresistible, went mad over him. He was chosen for his good looks – alongside a number of other young American men. They were called ‘‘Romeos’’ or ‘‘Romeo spies’’. Because of the love element.’
    ‘I see.’
    ‘Of course love has very little to do with it … Oswald’s credentials were impeccable. His father was a fundraiser for the Republican party. His patriotism was never in question. He adored Ronald Reagan. Still does.’
    ‘What was his Berlin mission about?’
    ‘It involved seducing German girls who worked across the wall in the Soviet sector – as well as keeping a