“And the third possibility?”
“Ah, now here’s the most intriguing of all, Brunner. The third possibility is that Cornelia Vanderhoute wasn’t pregnant at all, that her womb was, shall we say, unoccupied at the moment she presented herself at the Constabulary. After all, Brunner, there’s not a shred of medical evidence to support her tale, no doctor’s report, not even a prescription from an apothecary, which is strange considering she professed to be suffering pains and nausea. Did she look pregnant, Brunner?”
“Look pregnant? Now, how the devil would I know that?”
“You are married,” I said. “You have children, four if I’m not mistaken. I assume you’re familiar with what happens to a woman’s body — ”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Preiss,” Brunner said. He was still leaning back in his chair, his posture affecting casualness but a distinct note of irritation in his voice now. “Of course I know what happens to a woman’s body.”
“Well, then, let me ask you again. Did Cornelia Vanderhoute appear to be expectant? Were there any outer signs?”
“She was wearing a coat of some sort. I really couldn’t tell.”
“A coat? In August? What kind of coat?”
“I’m not an expert in female fashion, Preiss. It was a coat … you know, with a collar and sleeves and buttons and pockets.”
“Buttons you say? So, was her coat buttoned or open, that is, when she met with you to file her complaint?”
“It was buttoned. I suppose that’s why I couldn’t tell whether or not she was showing signs of being pregnant. Yes, of course, that’s the reason, Preiss.”
“So here we have presumably a warm day in August and this young woman shows up not only wearing a coat but one that is buttoned.”
“I did not say it was a warm day,” Brunner said, beginning to shift forward in his seat.
“August of 1867 was one of the warmest Augusts in years. The local press referred to it as a heat wave. How soon we forget!”
Angry now, Brunner shouted, “Damn it, Preiss, what do you think you’re doing, playing some sort of game with me? What kind of coat? Was it buttoned or unbuttoned? Was it a warm day? I suppose the next thing you’ll want to know is whether I personally conducted a physical examination to determine if the woman was in heat!”
“How clever you are, Brunner!” I said. “Yes, that is exactly the next question I was going to ask!”
“You may think this is all a joke,” Brunner said, rising from his chair, his voice quivering with righteous indignation, “but I’m afraid I don’t share your precious sense of humour.” He pointed to the sheet of paper. “It’s all in the report. Maybe you need to read it again … more carefully this time.”
“Oh, but I have read it, Brunner. Several times. And word for word.”
“Then that’s all there is, and to hell with you, Preiss.”
It was my turn now to rise from my chair and put on a show of righteous indignation. “I’ll thank you to remember, Detective Brunner, that I am chief of this branch; therefore, like it or not, you are answerable to me. And by answerable I mean a responsibility to fill in what I believe to be a gaping hole in this report of yours. I don’t make it a practice to repeat your bon mots, Brunner, but I’m about to make an exception to the general rule. I believe you did personally conduct a physical examination to determine if the woman was in heat. Oh, not then and there, in your office, but in some private quarters in the course of a tête-à-tête — there’s another bon mot of yours — the kind of get-together romantics like to refer to as a secret rendezvous. I prefer to regard it as mixing business with pleasure. Mind you, Brunner, I can’t say I blame you. She certainly is a curvaceous young specimen and, I take it, a woman who is attracted to men of authority, be they famous composers or senior officers of the law.”
Brunner’s stance, all aggression when he rose from his chair, suddenly altered; his shoulders sagged, his long arms hung limp at his sides, the fingers of his hands loose, his head drooping. “I’m only human, Preiss,” he said, his voice just above a whisper. “We may be officers of the law, but we’re still flesh and blood, aren’t we?” He looked up at me, inviting me to accept the notion that he and I were members of an exclusive male fraternity.
It was a notion I was not prepared to entertain. “Brunner, I might be inclined to go along with your ‘flesh and blood’ outlook on life but I’m beginning to believe your affair with Vanderhoute was more than a simple adulterous fling. Much more, in fact.”
“Very well, Preiss, I’ll admit it. I fell in love with her … the moment I laid eyes on her. She was everything I wanted. We’re both men of the world, Preiss, you and I, so you would understand. The difference between us is that I have a wife and four children that I must go home to every day of my life and — ” Brunner shrugged, then gave a long sigh. “And there are times when going home to a wife and four children after a long day on duty … well, you stand on the threshold, and you say to yourself, ‘Do I really want to enter, or would I rather disappear?’ Cornelia was my escape from reality, you might say.”
“You’ve left out one other aspect of your burdensome domestic life,” I said, making a point of keeping my tone sympathetic, figuring this approach would best draw some further truths from the man now looking rather helpless and pathetic. “Supporting a wife and four children on the salary of a detective — even a senior detective — must be stressful to say the least.”
Brunner was quick to agree. “Oh yes, stressful, and then some. The wolf is never far from the door. You don’t know how lucky you are, Preiss, with only your own mouth to feed.”
“Speaking of luck, Brunner, let’s consider for a moment how you sought to change yours.”
Brunner’s eyes narrowed. “But I’ve already explained — ”
“Explained half. Now I want the other half.”
“What other half?”
“The half which concerns money … money and the making thereof.”
“Again you’re playing some sort of game with me.”
“On the contrary, Brunner this is no game, I assure you. See here — ” I waved the report in the air, then replaced it on my desktop within easy reach of Brunner. “There is nothing — not one word — about Vanderhoute having gone to Wagner for financial assistance, is there?”
“But she did go to him,” Brunner protested.
“And demanded money. Wagner offered a sum which she refused. Then, hoping to get rid of her, Wagner offered her a larger sum which she turned down as well.”
Brunner suddenly brightened. “Ah, I see where this is leading,” he said. “We would have grounds to charge Wagner with bribery. Yes, of course, that’s it! I take it Wagner has already confessed to you, Preiss. A criminal conviction would be an absolute certainty in such a case. I have to congratulate you, Inspector!”
I held up my hands to restrain my effusive colleague. “I thank you for your kind felicitation, Brunner, but before you continue singing my praises let me come back to what I referred to a moment ago as the other half of this sorry business. I draw your attention to the fact that you neglected to sign the report as a complaints officer on duty would routinely do. Moreover, there is no mention whatsoever of the incident involving money which you now characterize as a bribe. I would have expected such details to be meticulously set out. But look, not a word; not even a measly punctuation mark!” Again I waved the report in Brunner’s face.
“As I told you,” Brunner pleaded, extending his arms in a gesture of helplessness, the palms of his hands open as though expecting a deposit of alms, “I was instantly and completely taken in by this woman … her beauty, her innocence, her plight, her despair — ”