Deadly Communion by Frank Tallis

It doesn’t contain many names — but there are a few entries of interest.’ Rheinhardt turned some pages. ‘Here, for example. Velentin Frece. The address given is an accountancy firm called Fischof and Cerny on Singerstrasse. I doubt Fräulein Babel needed the services of an accountant. Presumably Herr Frece gave Fräulein Babel his work address to avoid personal correspondence falling into the hands of Frau Frece.’
    Liebermann closed the wardrobe door and stood at the end of the bed. He dropped to his knees, leaned forward, and inspected the linen.
    ‘We must suppose that, like Adele Zeiler, Fräulein Babel consented to sexual intercourse. She removed her clothes in a provocative manner before lying down in readiness to receive her guest. During their congress, he brought her head forward and inserted the hatpin — a new gift and readily at hand — through the foramen magnum of her skull and into her brain. Observing her death made him culminate.’ Liebermann stood up and in less pensive tones asked: ‘Where is the photographer?’
    ‘He has already been. I was just waiting for you and the mortuary van.’
    ‘Is Professor Mathias to undertake the autopsy?’
    ‘Yes.’
    Liebermann took his spectacles from his top pocket and began cleaning them with a handkerchief.
    ‘Did you receive my note concerning Miss Lydgate?’
    ‘She wants to see Mathias at work …’
    ‘And assist in the investigation.’
    ‘Well, I have no objection. You are welcome to invite her along, although it is a peculiar request for a young woman to make — to attend a police autopsy.’
    ‘It might be advisable to leave that sentiment unexpressed in her company, Oskar.’
    ‘Oh?’
    ‘She is a medical student, accustomed to the dissection of corpses, and I believe that Miss Lydgate has strong views concerning equality between the sexes. I fear she might be offended were you to imply that pathology was not an appropriate interest for a young woman.’
    Rheinhardt got up from his chair and sighed.
    ‘Sometimes I feel lost in the modern world. All of the old certainties seem to have vanished.’ He looked down at the naked form of Fräulein Babel and, clapping a hand on Liebermann’s shoulder, said: ‘Come, Max — let’s wait for the mortuary van outside.’
    Liebermann put on his spectacles and followed the melancholy inspector.

18
    Y OU WANTED TO KNOW more about my early life — and my first erotic experiences. I suppose that is to be expected under the circumstances. Well, I am happy to oblige. Indeed, I must confess that I am finding this exercise curiously satisfying. It is like the relief one feels after divulging a long-held secret. Even a small concealment becomes burdensome. It weighs heavily on the soul. The desire to share it with others mounts, until disclosure becomes irresistible. Imagine, then, how I must feel now. It is like some great catharsis — the untying of a Gordian knot. You have promised me peace when this history is complete. I must admit I did not believe you. But as I write more I can see there may be something in it.
    Are you familiar with the folk customs of upper Bavaria and the Balkans? At funerals, food is prepared and laid on the coffin of the deceased. A person, known as the sin-eater, is summoned to the house, and by eating the food the sin-eater absolves the deceased of his sins. The food takes the form of bread, dead-loaves, or simple sweetmeats — dead-cakes.
    You have an appetite for my sins. You are hungry for them. I can see it in your eyes.
    But again, I digress. You wanted to know about the awakening of Eros.
    Memory is unreliable, yet I am sure that in this respect my recollections are accurate. I was precocious. When those village women,full of pity and love and sorrow, pulled me close and I inhaled their salty, sugary fragrances I was aware of their physicality, the softness and warmth beneath the dirndls, and I experienced a curious sensation that I would later come to identify