Fatal Lies by Frank Tallis (novels in english txt) 📗

most despised), Liebermann sprang up from his chair. He tossed some coins onto the table and departed the coffeehouse, eager to put his unsavory descent into self-pity and despair behind him.

Liebermann walked back to the hospital at a brisk pace. He went directly to his office, where he applied himself to revising the wholly inadequate patient notes he had made earlier.

There was a knock on the door.

“Enter,” Liebermann called out.

A man appeared, wearing a smart uniform with orange and gold piping, two rows of buttons bearing relief eagles, and a green hooded cloak. The splendor of his appearance (which revealed the typically Viennese fondness for civic grandeur) vastly inflated the importance of his station and function.

“Herr Dr. Liebermann?” he asked, breathlessly.

“Yes.”

The telegraph messenger handed Liebermann an envelope and retreated a few steps. He lingered in the doorway. Liebermann dug deep into his pockets but could find the makings of only a sorry tip, having disposed of most of his change in the coffeehouse.

Liebermann opened the envelope and found a note inside, written in an elegant, looping hand.

Dear Dr. Liebermann,

I trust this note will discover your whereabouts—as I have had to improvise your address. We did not speak of music, but I have a strong feeling that it is important to you—that you possess a musical soul. This evening, I will be performing a selection of Tartini's works for violin.

(

A ticket is enclosed.) I very much hope that you will come. Please accept my apologies for giving such short notice.

Once again, thank you for your most timely assistance.

With fond greetings,

Trezska Novak

So that's why she's in Vienna! She's a violinist!

Liebermann raised the note and passed it under his nose. He recognized the woman's perfume: the upper register, a combination of clementine and mimosa, the lower, white amber and musk.

“Trezska Novak.” He said her name out loud, affecting a Hungarian accent. It tripped off his tongue with a jaunty dance rhythm. For the first time that day he smiled. Not a great, radiant smile, but a smile nevertheless.

31

ON LEAVING THE HOSPITAL, Liebermann walked to Café Landtmann, where he ordered a large plate of Wiener schnitzel followed by two slices of topfenstollen. His appetite, which had been notably absent, had suddenly returned. As his fork sliced through the crumbly pastry, the fragrance of lemon zest, cinnamon, and rum intensified. He relished the sharp flavors, which seemed to revive all his senses: the world became more vivid.

By seven o'clock he was on a tram, which took him to the nearby seventh district. He soon found the small concert venue where Trezska was playing. Examining the billboard, he discovered that she was sharing the platform with two other musicians: a pianist, József Kál-man, and a cellist called Bertalan Szép. The concert seemed to be part of a cultural initiative and was sponsored by Árpád Arts, a charitable foundation promoting young musicians from Hungary.

Liebermann entered the building, deposited his coat in the cloakroom, and purchased a program. He loitered in the foyer for a few minutes and studied the audience. They were entirely unremarkable, although there were more Hungarians present than might ordinarily have been expected. Capturing an usher's attention, he was guided to a central seat in the fourth row. The auditorium was already quite full, and an obese woman, wearing a feather boa and a floral hat, scowled at him when she had to stand up to let him pass.

As he settled down, Liebermann noticed a group of men advancing up the side aisle. They were dressed in elegant black suits and looked, so Liebermann thought, like representatives of the charitable foundation. One of them sported an award of civil merit: a large cross, hanging from a violet and green ribbon—the Royal Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen. Among their number, Liebermann was surprised to glimpse the white tunic and gold sash of an Austrian general. He did not get a very clear view of the man, but he saw that he was carrying a bouquet of flowers. The dignitaries took their seats— all in the front row—and almost immediately the lights dimmed.

A door at the back of the stage opened, and József Kálman—a thin, sallow man with sunken eyes—marched to the piano. He played some fanciful pieces by Karl Goldmark and a selection of mazurkas, nocturnes, and ballades by Stephen Heller. Liebermann judged Kálman to be technically proficient, but his interpretations were far too literal. Be that as it may, the audience was determined to praise the young artist, and responded with vigorous applause and hearty cries of “Bravo! Bravo!”

The cellist, Bertalan Szép—a stout fellow with comically horripi-lated hair—was an altogether more accomplished performer. He produced an excellent account of Bach's Suite Number Six in D major, managing to make the melancholy voice of his instrument sing with joy. He continued his recital with an amusing transcription of an orchestral interlude by a Russian composer, titled The Flight of the Bumblebee—the conceit of the piece being that its curious chromatic melody emulated precisely the frantic buzzing of the busy insect. When Szép took his bow, Liebermann was pleased to bring his hands together with genuine enthusiasm.

Contemplating the vacant platform, Liebermann found that he was peculiarly excited by the prospect of seeing Trezska Novak again. He began to wonder if his recollection of her was accurate: the full mouth, the strong nose, and those striking eyebrows. She had seemed very beautiful—at the time—but they had met under exceptional circumstances. Perhaps his heightened state of emotion had affected his perception of her. He was hoping—rather anxiously— that his memory had not deceived him, and that the woman who was about to occupy the stage would prove to be an exact copy of the woman he had rescued in Landstrasse.

The door at the rear of the stage opened and Trezska Novak materialized out of the shadows. Liebermann was not disappointed. Indeed, so arresting was her appearance that the audience produced an appreciative soughing that preceded their applause. She was wearing a