Montgomery started to talk quickly.
'This has nothing to do with you, darling.'
'Don’t worry, I have a feeling William wants to talk to the police as little as you do, but as long as they’re on their way we know you’ll make yourself scarce. When they get here we’ll say it was a simple break-in, unless you want to stick around and tell them different.'
Montgomery looked at Sylvie with a respect that was laced with frustration. I picked up his phone and dialled.
'I understand you want to protect your boyfriend, but he’s not the plaster saint he makes himself out to be.'
He started to lower his hands.
'Any further and I’ll shoot you in the stomach.'
The other end of the line picked up and I started to give the address of the hotel. Sylvie kept the gun level. I tried to think of the German word for emergency, failed and said,
'Schnell bitte.'
Montgomery smiled.
'You know I could take that off you don’t you, darling?'
'I know the safety catch is off, I know that I’ll press the trigger and I know it’ll make one hell of a bang whether I hit anyone or not. You, on the other hand, know fuck-all.'
I said, 'Danke,' and killed the call. 'They’re on their way.'
'Look, I went about this wrong. Your boyfriend’s got something belonging to me.'
Montgomery smiled, still holding his hands up to show he was no threat. 'Thirty-five years on the force,' he took a small step forward. His voice took on a hypnotic tone. 'I tend to get a bit impatient… go in like a bull in a china shop when there’s no need… forget that sometimes softly, softly is better. It means a great deal to me. Sentimental reasons as much as anything else.'
'He’s lying, Sylvie.'
Montgomery’s voice was gentle.
'There could be a lot of money in it for you both.' He took another step. 'A lot of money.'
Sylvie’s eyes locked with Montgomery’s and I realised she still wasn’t quite sober. The policeman took another step and I braced myself to go for the gun. Then Sylvie put her finger on the trigger, and a small smile touched her lips.
'Do you really want to test me?'
Montgomery took a step back and raised his hands a little higher.
'I guess I just did.'
A passing car broke the silence of the street outside. There were no sirens but it was enough to sever the spell. Montgomery turned to me.
'This isn’t the end, Wilson. If I were you I’d be a sensible boy. I’m not going to let up.'
'Are you threatening him?'
'No, love, I’m making him a promise. Until I get what I want your boyfriend’s the walking dead. You’ll never know the day or the hour, but know this, I’ll fucking swing before I’ll let him away with it.'
'You’ve had your say, now scram.' Sylvie was in her element, Bonnie Parker and Patty Hearst all rolled into one. 'I’m going to keep pointing this gun at the door. Anyone walks through who isn’t a member of the Berliner Polizei and they get a bullet in the guts.'
Montgomery hesitated, his gaze shifting between Sylvie and me. He said, 'You better get me what you owe me, Wilson, or you’re a dead man.' Suddenly he smiled. 'Your agent tell you about the TV scout looking for you?' The realisation came before he said it. 'Sorry, chum, you just failed the audition.'
The policeman smiled again but there was a brittleness to the smile that belied the gag.
The door closed quietly behind him, the latch clicking to, mild and gentle as his voice. I sunk onto the bed and put my head in my hands. Sylvie stood, legs apart, keeping her aim steady, looking like a female action hero towards the end of the movie. Her voice was level.
'William, go to the window and tell me when he leaves the building.' I concealed myself behind the curtain and looked down into the street. Sylvie asked, 'What was all that about?'
'My last chance to get on TV.'
'And I thought the dance world was tough. I’m not the prying type, Will, but I think you owe me an explanation.'
'I’ll tell you back at your place.'
'You take a lot for granted, Wilson.' She sighed. 'OK, later.'
Later was fine. By the time later came I’d have made up something that sounded plausible. Or perhaps I’d have left Berlin. Or maybe I’d be lying snug on a satin mattress in a rosewood bed while my mother stroked my forehead and remembered the sweet boy I’d once been.
Outside it was dawn. After a minute or two Montgomery strolled across the road, all hint of menace gone, looking like the kind of man you might turn to for advice, a respectable middle-aged man with a sleep problem who liked to take the air in the early hours. He pulled up the collar on his jacket and glanced back at the hotel. Maybe he
