by Andy Engines
I sat, waiting and time slowed down to grains of sand.
There was still no word. It had been 2 hours, then 3, then 4 and still Marije
hadn’t returned. Each minute that passed marked more questions, more worry and
more doubts. I was doubting myself, doubting Marije, doubting the world and
asking why I had pursued this line of action and then I realised I had pursued
no line. I had been carried on a wave that lifted me and dragged me forward
with absolutely no control.
After 5 hours I was starting to get frantic and found
myself pacing the apartment, listening for any sound of her arrival. When I
realised how stupid I was being I sat in the window and watched for her return
in the hope that sitting watching would speed events up. She would return, why
on earth wouldn’t she? I made yet another coffee and returned to my vigil and
realising the stupidity of my actions I returned to pacing and listening once
more.
Something must have happened, something had gone
wrong, what was taking so long, why wasn’t she back yet. At some point worry
gave way to something far worse. A feeling of loneliness started to descend on
me and I was very aware that I was in a strange land in a horrible predicament
and I knew absolutely no one. Tears started to flow and I don’t honestly
know whether they were worry for me, worry for Marije or just plain self pity
but the emotion was raw; it held me in a vice like grip and I didn’t know which
way to turn.
“Mistress?”
My head spun around and there she was standing in the
doorway. Somehow I had missed her arrival but a rush of happiness swept over me
at the sight of her. I never realised how happy a single person could make me
feel. I rushed over to her and before she could say a word I hugged her tight
whilst all the pent up emotion of the day spilled out.
“Are you ok?”
I stepped back from her, embarrassed at my emotional
state, it had been all for nothing.
“I am now, Marije.” I took a deep breath and tried to
regain some composure. “Tell me what happened. You were so long.”
She smiled as she walked further into the room.
“Mistress it appears everything is good. The police are treating the incident
as misadventure based on the fact that Andreas was constantly warned against
swimming around boats. It would appear that there is nothing to worry about.
They asked me to make a statement.”
I breathed in hard at the word. “Statement?”
“Do not worry, Mistress. They are taking statements
from all witnesses purely to close the file”
A man was dead and I was saddened beyond belief,
especially as a dark part of my mind was convinced that it was my boat that had
killed him, but I knew I wasn’t a criminal, I wasn’t a murderer. The word
murderer made me wince as it floated through my mind. It was a tragic accident
I repeated in my mind.
“There is one problem though.”
“Problem?”
“Yes they require a statement from me.
I looked at Marije trying to make sense of what she
had said. “From you? But you said you gave a statement.”
“Yes Mistress I did, but they want a statement from
me, from Marije Zuzic as well as that from Valentina Van Den Berg. They said
that a detective would call here in the morning to take the statement.”
“Marije, what do you mean. How can they take a
statement from you. You already gave one.”
This was madness, one minute everything is good and
then the next the hole gets deeper. Marije remained standing as I dropped into
a chair trying to work out if I could get away from here. Thoughts of running
crossed my mind.
“You could be me, Mistress.”
“Pardon…” I looked at her incredulously. “Marije I do
not speak Croatian.”
“But I said you were taken to America as a child
Mistress and that although retaining your passport you did not speak Croatian.
I explained that you had travelled with me to see your motherland again. That
is not an issue but your hair is.”
“My hair.”
“Yes your hair. Remember the couple on horseback. They
also made statements saying they saw two people in the speedboat, one blond and
one…”
“Dark.” I finished for her.
“Yes with dark hair Mistress.”
I looked across at Marije sitting in the armchair and
I felt a ripple of fear as I went to open the door. It was the strangest of
emotions to realise that I was acting the part of Marija’s maid, and with a
mental shake of my head I realised I was acting as Marije acting the part of
Valentina Van Den Berg’s maid.
As the door
swung open a man and woman stood in front of me. One stern, one smiling, one in
a leather jacket and one in a floral dress, the contrast couldn’t have been
more. As words poured out of the man’s mouth he held an ID card with Policija
boldly written on it. Though not speaking Croatian I could understand that one
word at least. He paused and looked at the woman.
“Inspector Norvak wishes me to pass on the days
greetings and ask that we may enter to take your statement regarding the boating
accident of the 22nd. My name is Anna Babic and I will be acting as the
official interpreter for the statement.”
Before I could reply or move Marije’s voice passed
over my shoulder and without further pause the two walked in. I stood
momentarily in shock with my back to the room still holding the door. They had
walked past me as if I didn’t exist.
There followed a discussion between the three in
Croatian and I found myself moving to hear better even though I couldn’t
understand a word. Papers were laid on the table and then Marije turned
to me and gestured to a chair.
“Marije. Come sit please.”
As I sat the policeman started to talk, his voice was
guttural, thick with accent and his mouth sported the biggest moustache I had
ever seen. It intrigued me that at such a time his moustache would be something
I noticed above all else. After a while he paused to allow the interpreter to
translate.
“Miss Zuzic, I am apologies for disturbing your day
but in order for me to fully close the file on the accident of Andrea Kovačević we must take all statements of witnesses and
as you were a passenger in the boat Miss Van Den Berg was driving your
statement is a priority. I must warn you that your statement will be filed in
the accident report though the Inspector stresses that this case is viewed as
purely that.”
“As what? Sorry I don’t
understand.”
“As an accident.”
A wave of relief washed over me
when I heard those words and for the first time since that horrible day I
relaxed a little.
“Miss Zuzic if you please, tell
us in yoru words what happened on the 22nd. Take your time and please be as detailed as you
can.”
Words flowed out of my mouth as I
related the day’s events, the beach, the feeling and the sunburn. My thoughts
moved through the day to the journey back in the boat and the race with the
horse riders.
“Sorry and you were sitting
where?”
“Sorry, sitting?”
“In the boat, where were you
sitting?”
“The right side. No sorry the
left. I laughed nervously to cover my mistake and slightly emboldened I added,
“I am not used to boats sorry.”
The interpreter smiled and
muttered that it didn’t matter as she scribbled her notes.
The whole process lasted for over
two hours but as we finished and as I signed each page I felt as if a great
weight had been lifted from my shoulders. It was a tragic accident and truly
saddened me but the relief at being free of our predicament was a tonic. I
glanced at Marije and saw her starting to rise in expectation of the two
leaving when something the Inspector said made her pause and then her eyes went
wide. My head snapped round to the Inspector and interpreter and they remained
silent whilst they sat looking at us expectantly.
“Marije, follow me.”
“Pardon.”
“Come.“
Not needing to be told twice and
sensing the urgency in Marije’s voice I followed through to the hall.
“Whats wron-“
“They want money. One thousand
dollars…” I looked in shock at her realising exactly what this was. But before
I could react her following words stopped me dead in my tracks.
“And our passports.”
And so the trap begins to close, as we knew all along it would....
ReplyDeletevery good start, the passports are particually telling as now she can't leave o r eascape
ReplyDeletecant wait for her to become trapped hoped this stories becomes a good one
ReplyDelete