NUPTIALS OF DEATH
If you haven't read the previous episode yet, click here
He was watching the video he made of one of the show hosts when somebody was knocking on the door. It was the mason, announcing that he would finish the job by the evening. With that he signed his sentence. He was working for weeks on the new basement area to be constructed under the garage. He was told he's making a bunker for the paranoid owner. The master came from Transylvania, and he was grateful for the huge sum he got for his work as well as the food and board in the house.
Throughout the first week he was watching the worker day and night, but he didn't see anything suspicious. He wasn't going out to the pub, he wasn't going out anywhere at all. He ate what he got and after work, whilst watching the TV he drank the two bottles of beer he got prepared in the fridge every day.
He tweaked with the mason's cell phone right on the first day, so he wouldn't be able to talk to anyone about the odd job. He promised the worker to get him a replacement, but every day he had a new excuse why he didn't do it that day.
The new rooms were accessible from a metallic, changing room-type locker from the garage. The ladder opened from the bottom of the locker by turning a secret latch. Down below he got two room made, separated by a sound-blocking steel door. Into one he even got a sink and a metallic toilet installed. As the mason knew, that would be the area where the owner would live during a nuclear fallout, whilst the other would be his control room. From there he can keep the outside cameras in sight and analyze the radiation. Behind the control panel he had a hole made, saying that he will have to store several months' worth of food and bottled water there. He didn't let the mason take the dirt out. He explained the worker how food stored under dirt is good longer. The mason was a little startled by this, but he didn't object. By hiw own idea he even lined the bottom and the sides of the hole with concrete, he must have thought that a little bit of cinder can't hurt the stocks dug in there.
All in all he did a nice job, he would've deserved his pay, but since the location was of key importance to the final game, no one could know about it. That was part of the Death Matrix too.
He tricked the mason to the edge of the hole, and thrust his knife straight into his heart. His final payment was that he could die fast, without much torment.
The corpse dropped in the hole soundlessly. He tossed the knife next to him, and with quick moves he started to shovel the dirt onto him. Metal and Earth, one more step.
As the hole filled up the paved its place with concrete. In a few days he will even put down the missing floor tiles, concealing the mason's grave forever.
He won't need any helpers for the installation of the electronics, so nobody will catch wind of the first, privately owned, remote-controlled execution room in the country.
*
They were guessing until the dawn, what could the blog group have in common with the death of the husband. Máté kept by his idea of Psychofairy being the key character, whilst Anna wanted to go after the commenter named Sangel, but as they re- and reread the blog, it got clearer and clearer that nothing is what it first seemed to be. Carefully revisiting the last two days' posts they noticed that more commenters appeared to have posted something that may bring up the possibility of them knowing of the husband's death earlier than Anita posted it. Around 3am they decided to ask for Dávid's help to take a closer look on the commenters.
Máté haven't yet talked to his girlfriend about Dávid's suspense, he didn't want to get her worked up for no reason. Even though they didn't find exact proof of the unknown hacker having anything to do with what happened a year before, all three of them knew that this person was dangerous. The police didn't really deal with why did Dávid's e-mail girlfriend die exactly the day after the hacker attack, and why from that day did Anna feel like as if she was being followed. Every clue lead into a dead end, and no matter how Máté and his people were expecting the new attack, the hacker disappeared as if he never even existed. But if now he turned up again, that can bring unforeseen consequences. Even though the first counter-moves have to be made by Dávid, Máté wanted to be next to him when he does so.
The next day their flight left at 1.30pm for home. When Máté woke up, his girlfriend has already finished packing, as she said, so they can say a worthy good-bye to Paris. For Anna it meant disappearing into the underground maze of shops of Forum des Halles, and Máté sat down at a cozy terrace on Rue Montmartre and ordered a petit déjeuner. At home he never had breakfast, but in Paris he got used to the freshly baked croissant, and to staring at the passers-by from the side of his poison-strength coffee.
The waiter just appeared as his cell phone rung. As he was waiting for his breakfast, he read through his messages, and then he forgot to turn it off.
Even though there was no number on the caller ID, he listened to his sixth sense and picked up.
– Are you okay? – Orsi asked desperately.
From the over-the-top excitement of the voice, Máté guessed she has already gotten drunk, or that she hasn't even sobered up from the previous night yet.
– What would be wrong with me? I'm sitting on a terrace on Rue Montmartre, the sun is shining, there are all well-dressed folks around me... But what is wrong with you? Don't tell me you...? I thought you would be on screen tonight.
– I've been clean for three days... because of you.
– Because of me? I couldn't reach it in a year being next to you almost every day, and now from a thousand miles away I suddenly can?
– You wrote me you were in trouble, and that you needed me.
– Thanks, I'm fine... Anna too... but...
– You called me to City Park for midnight!
– Me? I've been in France for a week now.
– You sent me an e-mail.
– I swear I turned my PDA on for the first time in a week just now.
That wasn't quite true, but he really didn't write any e-mails.
– It came with your name.
– Farkas Máté? (translator's note: in Hungary, people don't use the Western name order, but the last name comes first, then the first and middle names)
– Reverse, in Western order, as you always use it: mate.farkas.
– I never ever had such an address. And did you go to City Park?
– Do you swear on your life that it wasn't you writing that?
– Think, Orsi! I would never take you to an empty park at night. I know exactly of our phobias, and even if it was about somebody's life, I would still invite you to some crowded place. Actually it's easier to hide there. When did you get that e-mail?
– Friday. I immediately wrote back, something like don't fuck with me, and I keep calling you since then, but nothing...
Máté put down his croissant.
– I hope you didn't go there? – he asked worried.
– No. I wanted to, but I was so scared... I knocked myself out.
– Thank God! – he answered immediately, and after a little pause he added: – I didn't think I would ever be glad about you getting fucked up.
– But last night I did go out – she went on –, and I talked to a dog-lover there, who did see a man out there around that time. So far I didn't think it would be important, but now that I know it wasn't you, it may be important…
– What did he look like?
– Average 45-ish man, no special features.
– It must have been some journalist trying to get some info out of your fears!
– I don't think so. Or do you think they would do such a thing?
– I ain't get startled on anything anymore – said Máté darkly.
– Are you still there? – she broke the long silence.
– Yeah, I'm just thinking. I really don't like this whole thing...
– I'm terribly scared! – Orsi said with a frightening tone.
– Be really careful! Try not to remain alone for a minute. Ask somebody to take you home. And most importantly, don't drink!
– I don't drink anymore. When do you come home?
– We will be home tonight.
– Can you come over?
Máté almost promised to, but then he thought of Psychofairy and Anna, and decided otherwise:
– Maybe, I don't know about my programs yet. It would be better to ask a girlfriend of yours to sleep over…
– I have no girlfriends… – she said in a colorless tone.
– I give you Dávid's number – he changed topics, – talk to him, maybe he can find it out who sent the e-mail!
He could hear crying from the other end of the line.
– Don't worry, it will be all right, Márkus is dead, he can't hurt you any longer – he was comforting her.
– I know, but I'm so scared…
No comments:
Post a Comment