She shook her head. It couldn’t be him. Surely he would have told her he had a Dupe loose in the Demi- Monde.
Finally, after doffing his hat to one of his new female acquaintances, Vanka meandered back across the road to Ella. ‘I would be grateful, Miss Thomas, if you would secure your veil snugly about your face.’ He slid his hand through her arm and steered the shaking Ella towards the coffee shop.
‘You look cold, my dear,’ he purred as he pushed his way through the revolving doors. ‘Let’s see if we can get a table near the fire.’ They could: money was exchanged and she found herself being seated at a table at the back of the restaurant next to the fireplace.
Distracted though she was, Ella couldn’t help but be impressed by the elegance of the room in which she was sitting. It reminded her of the pictures she’d seen of Viennese coffee houses: all gilt, mirrors, stiff white tablecloths and uniformed waiters. Vanka ordered coffee and gateau and once they had been served he insisted that she sample both before they spoke.
It was good advice: as she ate and drank, Ella found herself becoming calmer and much of this she attributed to her new friend. Vanka Maykov was a charmer. It was impossible to feel distracted or depressed in his company: he had a certainty about him that was immensely reassuring. Moreover, he was a very attentive charmer, who bustled around her making sure that she wasn’t sitting in a draught and that her coffee was prepared in just the way she liked it.
Finally he turned to business. ‘It would seem, Miss Thomas, that you have attracted the attention of the Checkya. They have a warrant for your arrest and are currently searching your apartment.’
‘But why?’
‘The commander of the Checkya squad charged with your arrest informed me that you are wanted on suspicion of being a Suffer-O-Gette crypto, an agent provocateur working for the Coven to disrupt the peace and tranquillity of the Rookeries. These are serious charges.’
‘I am not a Suffer-O-Gette!’ Ella protested for the second time that evening.
‘Shh!’ Vanka raised a finger to his lips. He used his chin to indicate the packed tables surrounding theirs. ‘I would be obliged if you would keep your voice down.’ He leant back in his chair and stretched his long legs. ‘In my career as a psychic, Miss Thomas, I have met a great many people and have developed an almost infallible nose for the liar and the scoundrel. You are neither of these: I believe you are telling the truth.’
For some perverse reason Ella found these words oddly comforting.
‘Unfortunately the opinion of Vanka Maykov has no weight in Checkya circles. Clearly you are being sought in connection with a political crime: the Checkya do not lower themselves to become involved with day-to-day villainy. So we must assume that you have been traduced… dangerously traduced. Someone, for whatever reason, has convinced the Checkya that you are an Enemy of the People.’ He took another nibble at his gateau. ‘Mmm, excellent, but one must be alive to the need to keep the girth of one’s waistline under reasonable control.’ Reluctantly, he laid his fork down. ‘I have to ask, Miss Thomas, for my own safety as much as yours, have you in some way insulted or discomfited one of the ForthRight’s movers and shakers?’
‘No. I’ve never even met any of them.’
‘Heydrich? Beria? Crowley?’
‘No, no, no.’
‘You are a beautiful woman, Miss Thomas: have you rejected the advances of one of these people?’
Annoyingly, Ella found herself blushing. ‘No.’
‘Could it be that you are the victim of the revenge of a jilted lover or a jealous wife?’
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’
‘Then you must be in possession of information that is of a compromising nature.’
‘Absolutely not.’
‘Are you an agent of Shaka’s? You are, after all, a Shade.’
‘No!’
Vanka took a thoughtful sip of his coffee. ‘As it would seem that you have committed no crime nor upset any in authority, I am left with two alternatives. The first is that the Checkya’s interest in you is the result of mistaken identity.’ He shook his head. ‘No, they are too efficient for that and, to be blunt, your complexion is not common in the Rookeries. I am therefore left with only one other possibility.’
‘What’s that?’
‘That you, Miss Ella Thomas, are not all you seem. That under that carapace of innocence and femininity there is someone who threatens the ForthRight. I say this because the Checkya committed over thirty men to the raid on your rooms, when to the best of my knowledge, generally they would only have sent a pair of agents on such an errand. This indicates that Beria – and only he could have authorised such a large operation – wants you in custody very badly. He must regard you as an extremely dangerous person.’
Ella’s gaze locked with his. ‘And if I am a dangerous person… what are you going to do about it?’
Vanka held up his hands. ‘Please, Miss Thomas, I would be grateful if you wouldn’t flourish your pistol again. I abhor violence: I find it disrupts my digestion. To my mind, the need to resort to violence indicates a lack of wit. Understand that you are in no danger from me, quite the contrary, in fact. For good or ill we find ourselves united. The Checkya have a simple-minded approach to law enforcement and hence will interpret my association with you as complicity in whatever crimes you have been accused of. As a consequence, my fate is now enmeshed with yours, which gives me a vested interest in your remaining free.’
He called for fresh coffee, waiting until it had been served before continuing. ‘I have a philosophy which convinces me that anything that undermines the ForthRight and the reprobates who administer it is to be encouraged. So I will do what I can to protect you, Miss Thomas.’ He took a sip of his coffee and frowned. ‘That protection extends to a plea that you do not drink this coffee: it is stale.’ He pushed the cup disdainfully aside. ‘And, of course, in the interim I am still interested in securing the services of a PsyChick. Have you had an opportunity of considering the offer I made in this regard?’
‘Do I have any choice in the matter?’
‘None whatsoever; I see it as a quid pro quo for any trouble you might cause me…’ He stiffened and his face took on a serious expression. ‘For the trouble you are about to cause me. Miss Thomas, I beg you to trust me implicitly. Do exactly as I say and we will survive the night, and I emphasise the “we” here.’
‘What’s wrong?’
‘A Checkya officer has just entered the coffee house and is examining the papers of all the customers.’
17
The Demi-Monde: 40th Day of Winter, 1004
UnderMentionables in the ForthRight are only permitted to live within the walls of the Warsaw Ghetto. Under-Mentionables are classified as Category B citizens and may only be educated up to the age of 14 years, and must not receive medical treatment beyond the age of 50 years. No places of worship other than those consecrated by the Church of the Doctrine of UnFunDaMentalism are permitted within the Warsaw Ghetto. All UnderMentionables working or travelling outside the Warsaw Ghetto must be in possession of a valid visa, issued by the Checkya. All nuJus working or travelling outside the Warsaw Ghetto must be in possession of a valid visa, issued by the Checkya, and must wear an armband (not less than five inches in width) displaying a black five-pointed star on a white background.
– Decree 7823 relating to the Control and Confinement of UnderMentionables within the ForthRight: ForthRight Law Gazette, Spring 1003
There was no escape.
One look at her skin colour and she would be arrested and the last thing she wanted to do was spend the rest of her life in a Demi-Mondian prison. Unfortunately there was no way to hide her colour: her veil might mask her face but she wasn’t wearing any gloves. Desperate to keep her hands out of sight and stop them shaking with fear, Ella placed them on her lap and knotted her fingers. She could feel the colour drain from her face – an unfortunately inaccurate description – and the sweat pooling under her armpits.
‘The man is two tables away,’ said Vanka idly. ‘When I say laugh I want you to laugh out loud, I want you to
