by Graham Brack
Forman was shocked that it had come to this. His hands were trembling, causing him to drop them below the desk in a belated attempt to avoid Slonský’s seeing them.
‘I’m not going to question you in full here. We’re going to be rounding up a few people and I hate repeating myself, so let’s just talk about your experience of traffic control.’
Forman was a stout man. Although part of that was middle-aged spread, he had always been square in shape, but now he seemed to crumple inwards as if Slonský’s old grandmother had been on to something when she told him that if you unknotted your navel all the air would escape.
‘That’s what this is about, isn’t it?’ Slonský continued. ‘You knew that gun was going to be moved at six o’clock so you went up there to divert any traffic and see them out to the main road.’
Forman began to cry quietly. Slonský could see that his resistance was about to break and allowed the silence to oppress him. ‘It wasn’t meant to be like this. It’s all that damn fool Veselý’s fault.’
‘There’s no law against being stupid, thank God, or our jails would be crammed and Parliament would be empty,’ Slonský opined.
‘Nearly forty years that blasted gun has been hidden here and he had to flush it out.’
‘Tell me how you knew about it.’
Forman blew his nose. He was telling his story to his desk top, unwilling to look into Slonský’s accusing eyes. ‘My wife’s father was one of the men who were detached to hide the gun in 1968. He would never speak about what happened then, but when he was dying a couple of years ago he told his sons and one of them told her. And my wife believes there should be no secrets between a man and his wife, so she told me.’
‘And who are those sons?’
‘My wife is the youngest one in the family. Her middle brother is the mayor.’
‘It sounds as if her brother is good at keeping secrets, then, because I assume he didn’t tell his own deputy.’
‘No, he didn’t trust Veselý to keep it quiet. Veselý chatters like a parrot. You can’t tell him anything confidential.’
‘So when Veselý began to clear the site for his dream development, there was a risk he would stumble across the gun?’ Slonský asked.
‘It was in a large barn not far from the cottages. We had no idea that he was planning to start building already. He hadn’t even got all the money together, but one day he just sent in the bulldozers. We only had a couple of hours to find somewhere for it.’
‘So you moved it in broad daylight?’
Forman shook his head. ‘We arranged for someone from the council to stop the bulldozers over a procedural technicality. We knew they had the right papers and that Veselý would soon get them going again, but he was out of town for the day, so it gave us that night to move the gun. We couldn’t think where to put it until someone mentioned that Miss Valachová’s field was empty. We went by a roundabout route and concealed it as best we could with canvas and camouflage netting. But it couldn’t stay there. We had to find another place for it. It took us a while but the mayor’s brother owned a disused coal yard. We thought if we could get it there we could build a shelter for it.’
‘We’ve checked the coal yard. There’s no gun there,’ Slonský insisted.
Forman sighed. ‘No, the idiot who was driving it couldn’t find anywhere out of sight. There was too much debris lying around, so he turned round and came back out again. He eventually found somewhere to put it, but I don’t know where.’
‘There’s an artillery piece in private hands and you’re not curious about where it is?’
‘I just wanted it gone, Captain. It was a daft idea to hide it in 1968 and it hasn’t got any better since.’
‘Why wasn’t it handed to the Czech Army after the Wall came down?’
‘I asked that very question. Old Nerad said that he couldn’t make that decision alone. He wanted to get the men together again so they could discuss it. But he could never find them all. I suspect he was probably the last of them, but until he could prove that, he went on fantasising about a reunion.’
‘Whereas if he’d asked you, you’d have been able to track them down using — or misusing — State resources.’
‘Yes.’
Forman forced a grim smile. ‘I don’t think you’d have criticised me for doing that, would you, in the circumstances?’
‘No, I don’t think I would. But obstructing a murder enquiry is a very different thing. So, you’ve agreed to help them move the gun. And you’re going to move it on Liberation Day because then you can risk moving it in daylight.’
‘It’s really difficult to drive it at night. The driver’s visibility isn’t good.’
‘Hence why he flattened a tree on the way.’
Forman smoothed his brow with his hand. He clearly had not heard about that.
‘You see,’ Slonský continued. ‘Peiperová here questioned the old man who lives in the cottage down the road — what’s his name?’
‘Jiří Jeníček, sir.’
‘That’s the man. He told us your car was parked in the middle of the road a couple of hundred metres from the field. If you’d been investigating an explosion why wouldn’t you drive right up to the field? And why not park it neatly by the side? The obvious answer was that you were deliberately blocking the road.’
Forman nodded. ‘I was going to walk past to the top of the road and stop the traffic there too. But while I was explaining that to my nephew and his cronies Lieutenant Sedlák turned up.’
‘And Sedlák wanted to know why you, a police officer, were helping a bunch of private individuals move a piece of artillery.’
‘He was going to report it at once. I argued that the game was up and they should just hand it over, but my nephew waved the gun out and it set off on its route. That left me and Sedlák’s party arguing in the road. My nephew suggested we go into the field to continue the discussion away from the attention of anyone who might pass by. When we were all in the field he snatched my gun and told them to sit down. One of his colleagues had some cable ties in his tool kit, so they were tied up. I asked what they were going to do with them, but my nephew just smiled and said that there was only one answer. He told me to make myself scarce and he’d return my gun later. I protested that I didn’t want my gun used to kill people. He took the bullets out and handed it back. I’d only got about halfway to the car when I heard the explosion. As God is my witness, I didn’t know they had grenades. I thought when I got my gun back I’d saved their lives.’ He covered his face and sobbed.
‘Now,’ Slonský continued, ‘tell us about the cover-up. You made no effort to help us investigate the murder because you already knew who’d done it. According to our pathologist one of the murderers may have been injured in the blast.’
Forman nodded. ‘The mechanic. He was slow leaving the field with the weight of his tool kit and took some shrapnel in his back.’
‘Did he get medical help?’
‘I got a local nurse to look at him. We told her the mechanic had been passing by the field when the explosion happened. It was a bit messy, but no real harm done.’
‘What happened in the field was more than “a bit messy” though, wasn’t it? It was carnage. And you knew who did it.’
Peiperová was tentatively raising and lowering her hand to attract his attention.
‘Do you need a pee, girl?’ Slonský snapped.
‘No, sir, it’s just — Officer Navrátil mentioned someone called Nerad in his report the other day.’
‘Not to me, he didn’t. Have you been getting reports of your own?’
‘No, sir, not really. He made some notes before Captain Lukas’ retirement and I said I’d type them up for him.’
‘This would be young Nerad, I suppose?’
‘Yes, sir. He runs a group called Our Home.’
‘That’s my nephew,’ Forman interrupted.
‘So in addition to murdering a police officer and three others your nephew
is hatching some plot against the security of the state.’
‘No! Never! David is a patriot,’ Forman insisted.
Slonský stood up and leaned over the desk so that his face was only centimetres from Forman’s. ‘One of my best men has been working undercover infiltrating that group. If he comes to harm I will personally dangle your balls over a beehive and give it a good kick to stir up the inhabitants. Now, we’d better go and arrest your nephew, hadn’t we?’
Forman stood up and donned his jacket.
‘You’re under arrest for obstructing the police in the conduct of an enquiry. Do you understand?’ Slonský asked.
Forman nodded again.
‘I need you to say yes.’
‘Yes,’ croaked Forman.
‘Good. Let’s not make a drama out of this. If you promise not to try to escape I won’t put the cuffs on till we’re in the car.’
‘Thank you,’ Forman whispered. ‘I appreciate your consideration.’
They left the office together, Peiperová bringing up the rear.
‘I’m just going out,’ Forman told his secretary. ‘Please cancel my appointments.’
‘Until when?’ she asked.
‘About 2025,’ Slonský replied.
They settled into the car, Peiperová driving while Slonský and Forman sat in the back.
‘Where to, sir?’
‘Tricky. We need Captain Forman to identify his nephew. Let’s swing through town on the way to Pardubice to see if we can spot Nerad. Then we’ll collect Doležal and he can look after one of the suspects while I manage the other. I don’t trust the other police in Pardubice.’
‘I’ll try the railway station first, sir. If someone at Pardubice revealed Navrátil’s identity to Nerad they’d probably want to stop him leaving town.’
‘Good idea.’
The train station was only two blocks away so Peiperová did not need directions. As they turned off the main road a young man who was talking urgently to another suddenly broke off upon seeing the police car and ran into the station.
‘That’s David,’ said Forman, rather unnecessarily.
Slonský realised his dilemma. Chasing a suspect is much more difficult when you’re handcuffed to another one.
‘You follow, Peiperová! Forman, out!’
Within a few moments Slonský had released himself from the handcuffs and attached Forman to the steel frame of a fence instead.
‘Stay here!’ he told him, even more unnecessarily.
Peiperová was tall, fit and fast. The man to whom Nerad had been speaking moved as if to impede her path but she swatted him aside by driving her shoulder into his side and kept running. The man stumbled but had just regained his balance when Slonský caught up and hooked his ankle with his leg. When he sprawled on the ground Slonský stamped on his knee.
‘That’s so I’ll be able to identify you when we come back,’ he explained.
Slonský had reached the platform just in time to see Peiperová on the far side of the tracks running away from him. The station was just a couple of tracks and a platform with no fencing or barriers, so Nerad had been able to run across the track and disappear into the streets opposite. Slonský could only hope that Peiperová had remembered that Nerad could be dangerous.
He turned back and headed for the car. The young man was sitting on the kerb rubbing his sore knee when Slonský hoisted him by the collar of his jacket.
‘Come along, sunshine,’ he said. ‘You’ll be company for Captain Forman.’
Unfortunately Slonský only had one pair of handcuffs so he began by cuffing both their right arms. That would make it harder for them to run away, especially since the cable was still wrapped around the railing.
In her haste to chase after Nerad, Peiperová had left the car keys in the ignition.
‘Fortunately even in Holice nobody dares to steal a police car,’ Slonský mused as he climbed inside and parked himself in the driver’s seat. He turned the car round and wound down the window. ‘You two are going to have to amuse yourselves while I find Peiperová. Try to play nicely together.’ And then he was gone.
Navrátil’s plan was simple. He would make himself as inconspicuous as possible, then he would find a place of safety, and finally he would ring Poznar to get himself collected. Although he did not know it, Poznar had already decided that things were not going well. Since Navrátil was plainly taking the instruction to contact him only in extreme circumstances very literally, Poznar rang him instead.
‘Where are you?’ Poznar asked.
‘There’s a farm we searched to the north of town. We were taken in by helicopter so I’m having trouble getting my bearings on the ground, but that’s where I’m heading.’
‘I’ll call a map up,’ Poznar said. ‘Anything else you can recall about it?’
‘We were there because the gun had flattened a tree. It couldn’t get across a small bridge so it turned in a coal yard.’
‘Okay, got it. At least, I can see the bridge and the yard. Tell me where you are.’
Navrátil described his route from the church.
‘Can you see a gate?’ asked Poznar.
‘There’s one across the road,’ Navrátil replied, ‘about fifty metres in front of me.’
‘First turning to the right once you’re passed it, then left at the top and you should see the road you want to your right again. I’m coming to get you so stay out of sight until we arrive. I’ll park at the coal yard and walk back down the road.’
As she ran Peiperová glanced about her in the hope of seeing Navrátil. She had to trust that when he saw her running in uniform he would have the wit to come to her because her main focus had to be on finding Nerad.
Nerad was looking out for Navrátil himself. He had given the police the slip and paused to gather his breath in an alleyway before resuming his search. He could hear running and flattened himself against the wall in the hope of escaping notice. A blue flash ran past the end of the alley, then, after a couple of seconds, Peiperová returned.
‘You’re under arrest,’ she called.
Nerad grabbed her arm as she attempted to draw her gun, wrenched it out of her hand and kicked it away along the alley. She managed to break free and they stood opposite each other a couple of metres apart.
‘What are you going to do now, little girl?’ he grinned.
Peiperová relaxed. She left her aggressive crouching posture and stood upright. Fixing Nerad with her cool blue eyes her gaze roamed over his face. ‘You’ve got nice skin,’ she said. ‘Do you moisturize?’
Nerad took in those eyes, the soft voice, its admiring tone, and was still processing them as her foot thudded into his scrotum and his world seemed to end in a great explosion.
Slonský looked at the three men chained to the fence.
‘Ordinarily I’d call the police,’ he said, ‘but I can’t trust the police here. Where the hell is Doležal when you want him? He’s not answering his phone.’
‘I’ll run back to the station and get someone to take the two young men to the cells,’ Peiperová volunteered.
‘No, we can’t leave Nerad here in Holice. They can take Hopalong, though, and they can bring another car and a couple of beefy lads to give us a hand.’
Peiperová ran off, leaving Slonský standing over the three men as a crowd gathered.
A middle-aged man with a little moustache addressed him. ‘You there! Are you in charge?’
‘That’s why I’ve got the gun.’
‘I hope you’re someone official. That’s a police officer you’re pointing that at, you know.’
‘I guessed that. The uniform is a bit of a giveaway. I’m one too, so I’ve seen it before.’ He flipped his wallet open to show his badge.
There was a gasp from the bystanders at the realisation that their police chief was attached to a fence in his own town.
‘Is this a training exercise?’ the officious man continued, ‘because I don’t think you should be running aro
und a public area with firearms.’
‘I’ll ask the criminals I meet to bear that in mind, sir,’ Slonský replied. ‘I doubt they’ll play ball, but it’s worth a try. Suggestions from the public are always welcome.’
Slonský’s phone rang, so he took it out to see who was calling. Seeing the name Rajka on the screen, he took the call.
‘How’s it going, Slonský?’
‘Very well. I’ve got Captain Forman with me now. We’re getting on famously.’
‘Good. I assume there’s no chance that you’ll be bringing him back in the next hour or two?’
‘Unfortunately I think we have some further business to attend to at this end.’
‘Police business?’
‘Involving the police, yes,’ Slonský said cautiously.
There was a pause. ‘And there are just the two of you?’
‘That’s right.’
‘And you’re planning to arrest and hold four police officers? Just the two of you?’
‘We’ve got two others in custody but Peiperová has gone for some help at the local station.’
Rajka sighed. ‘And those officers can be trusted?’
‘We’ll soon know. But I wasn’t planning to give their old boss to them to look after because you want to see him in Prague.’
‘I’ll tell you what,’ said Rajka. ‘Why don’t I get in the car and come to you?’
‘That would be appreciated,’ Slonský said. ‘And could you bring a good supply of handcuffs?’
The young officer approached Peiperová as she was speaking to the sergeant to get the men Slonský wanted.