Clearly, as if in slow motion, Nick saw his father on the bed, gasping, his feet moving, then giving in. His papers ready. Nick touched the envelope. Nothing else, no list.
“Who?” Nick said finally.
“Who. Mr Warren, do you blame the gun for going off? These men are tools. They are nobody. I’m not going to know who entered the Czernin Palace. I’m not going to know who went to your father’s flat on Holeckova. I accept that.”
“Then why are you telling me this?”
“So you will accept it too. So you are not tempted. To play the detective.”
“My father wasn’t Masaryk. He wasn’t going to set up a government in exile.”
“Then why was he killed? You see, I accept the limitations. How far we can take a criminal investigation-we’ve had to learn that. But it’s still important to know, to protect ourselves. One day, you know, the Russians will leave — yes, I believe that. We can be policemen again, solve real cases. But meanwhile we have to know what they’re doing. To hide, to play the fool if it’s better. To survive them. This is what we do.”
“Soldier Schweik.”
“If you like. A man is killed. If I know why, then I know how far I can go. Contain the situation.”
“By pretending it didn’t happen.”
“If that’s necessary.”
“Why do you want to protect them?”
“Mr Warren, I want to protect you.”
“Me?”
“Has it occurred to you how dangerous this might be for you? I came here to talk to you as a friend. I think you did not, at the station, understand how things are.”
“And how are they?”
“They must protect the lie. They’ll do anything to do that. Look at Masaryk-a crime twenty years old, yet still the lie. It’s a curious thing, to care so much what people think when you have all the power anyway. Maybe they need to believe it themselves. So they stage a simple case of suicide. Who would doubt it? But you are there, something unexpected. Now there are questions, accusations, the Americans calling. If they feel the lie is threatened, they will have to protect it. So now a crime. But the most obvious person to have done it, Mr Warren, is you.”
“You know I didn’t. The evidence-”
“Can be made to fit. It’s not a criminal case, Mr Warren. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. A political crime. All that matters is what they want people to believe. You were there, you had the motive.” He paused. “And you cannot explain yourself.”
“But you know-”
“If you are charged, there’s nothing I can do. You must see that. Of course, it’s a complication to arrest you. It becomes an incident. So many people involved. But they will do it, if they have to protect themselves. And you will be convicted. All proper and legal.” He lowered his voice. “You will be your father’s murderer.” Nick raised his head.
“Yes. They can do it. The question is, is it worth it to them? That’s what I don’t know yet. And I can’t know that until I know why he was planning to leave. Why he was stopped. I can’t help you if I don’t know that. If you don’t tell me.”
Nick, shaken, said nothing.
“Will they accuse you? Is it that important to them?”
“I don’t know.”
Zimmerman sighed and reached for another cigarette, taking his time. “Of course, there is another possibility. The easiest way to avoid everything-no incident, no trial. What do you know, Mr Warren? They were willing to kill him. Why stop? They killed people in the Masaryk case-oh yes, even years later. If they thought you knew the reason. It would be easy, to make a new lie. A family tragedy. You found the body. Who can say how people react to such a terrible thing? Sometimes they blame themselves. It would be easy. If they thought you knew.”
Nick stared at the precise, glowing ash of Zimmerman’s cigarette. “Maybe they sent you to find out.”
Zimmerman looked at him for a second, then nodded slowly. “Yes, maybe. In that case, I seem to have failed. You decide.” He stood up, scraping the chair. “But I see I have accomplished one thing-to make you suspicious. Even of me. Good. You need to be careful.”
“Like you.”
“Yes, like everyone here. But we’re still alive.”
Nick didn’t move. All of it true. But did they know about him? Had his father told them? Before the pillows made him quiet?
“Do you really think they’d-”
“I have no way of knowing, Mr Warren. Perhaps it’s my imagination. Only you would know that. If what you know is dangerous. But I would be careful. In fact, I would leave Prague.”
“You’re the one who ordered me to stay.”
He nodded. “Yes, it’s a difficulty. You understand, that was an official request, not mine.”
“Then what-”
“Under the circumstances? Go with the suicide. Make a statement. About his despair. Be innocent.” Zimmerman stared at him, serious.
Nick looked away. An end to it. What everybody wanted. He thought of Anna’s arm moving, on the other side of the cubicle wall.
“Then I can leave?” he asked finally.
“I’ll see. I don’t know how far this has gone. Incidentally, has anyone talked yet to Miss Chisholm?”
“No.”
