"Child Of The Stones" - читать интересную книгу автора (Mcauley Paul J)

The big man took the briefcase from me and snapped its locks. Cagliostro touched the book with long white fingers, then told his servant to close the briefcase and set it on the front seat. He smiled at me and said, УYou do not recognize me.Ф

УWe have met before?Ф

УIn 1941,Ф Cagliostro said, and put the car in gear and pulled out into the traffic, ignoring the outraged horn blast of a bus.

УWhich side were you on?Ф

УYou must ask?Ф

УI suppose not.Ф

УI was a mere boy then. And because it took me some time to learn how to prolong my life, I have aged somewhat. You, however, look much as you did then. You even wear the same silly costume.Ф

УIt is not a costume,Ф I said, remembering the young man who had given me a calm look of pure hatred as he stood between two military policemen, in a room hazed with the smoke of the onetime code pads that he had burnt while soldiers had fought a gun battle with his associates. I told him now, УYou had some small talent in the matter of the dead. You believed it to be a form of magic when we first met, and I thought you foolishly deluded. If you still believe it, then I am afraid that my opinion has not changed.Ф

УSee how he talks,Ф Miranda said to Cagliostro. The poor girl was still trying to win his favour. УHe thinks heТs more important than anyone. ThatТs why I helped you.Ф

УThis man was an enemy agent in the Second World War,Ф I told her. УA Nazi spy. He bound ghosts to important buildings. The ghosts acted as markers or beacons for others of his kind, who rode in bombers.Ф

УSounds cool,Ф Miranda said.

УIt was very cool,Ф Cagliostro said. He was a skilful and ruthless driver, riding hard on the rear of the car in front of the Jaguar, overtaking it on the inside at the big roundabout as he aimed the big car into Old Street. УUnfortunately, flattery will not undo the damage you have caused.Ф

УHe called himself Count Roemheld then,Ф I said. УIt was no more his real name than Cagliostro.Ф

УNames are powerful things, Mr Carlyle,Ф Cagliostro said. УI do not give up mine lightly.Ф

УI did everything you asked,Ф Miranda said. УI got him to go to Rainer SueТs house.Ф

УYet Mr Carlyle escaped the trap. I wonder, young lady, if it was because you told him about it.Ф

УI never!Ф

УI escaped,Ф I said, Уbecause your trap was so very crude. I defeated you once, and I will do so again.Ф

But despite my brave words and the voluptuous feeling of calm that had possessed me ever since I had committed myself to this confrontation, I was not certain that either I or Miranda would survive it. I did not know how much power Cagliostro had gained since we had last met, and I had not counted on Donny Halliwell being armed. Miranda had been right. I was no longer wise to the ways of the streets. I did not assume that English criminals would carry pistols as casually as Wild West cowboys.

The Jaguar sped under the railway bridge where I had been stopped two nights before, and turned sharply onto Kingsland Road. A pedestrian levitated himself out of the way. We drove past the Geffrye Museum. We drove past the new mosque. The gold cap of its tower shone in the late-afternoon sunlight. Cagliostro looked at me in the rear-view mirror and said, УPerhaps you are wondering why I need the book.Ф

УAs a matter of fact, I am wondering why you believe that you need me. You went to a great deal of trouble with your silly little trap, and you did not ask your creature to kill me just now, after you took possession of the book.Ф

УTimes are changing, Mr Carlyle. We are at the end of one age and the beginning of another. It is time to choose sides. Those like you, who attempt to remain neutral, who pretend that they are aloof from the world, will be the first casualties. Do you not think that poetic justice?Ф

УI see no justice here, only the tired cliche of an old, defeated Nazi attempting revenge on his former nemesis.Ф

УIf I had wanted revenge, Mr Carlyle, I would have found you more than fifty years ago. This is no more than a happy coincidence. I discovered that you had something I wanted, and when you would not accept my very reasonable offer I was forced to take it.Ф

УI believe it was Miranda who stole the book. You were not able to find my house, although you tried several times to follow me home.Ф