course not." Michaelmas turned to Frontiere. "Ah, Getulio. And where is Ossip? I don't see him."
"Mr Sakal is a little indisposed and had to leave," Lim-berg said. "As his co-host for this reception, I express his regrets." Frontiere nodded.
"I am very sorry to hear that," Michaelmas said. "Getulio, I wonder if I might take you aside and speak with you for just a moment. Excuse me, Dr. Limberg, Walter. I must leave for my hotel almost immediately, and Mr Frontiere and I have an old promise to keep."
"Certainly, Mr Michaelmas. Thank you for coming." Suck suck. Wisp.
Michaelmas moved Frontiere aside with a gentle touch on the upper arm. "I am at the Excelsior," he said quietly. "I will be in Switzerland perhaps a few hours more, perhaps not. I hope you'll be able to find the time to meet me." He laughed and affectionately patted Frontiere's cheek.
"I hope you can arrange it," he said in a normal tone. "Arrivederci." He turned away with a wave and moved towards where he had seen Clementine chatting beside a tall, cadaverous, fortyish bald man with a professorial manner.
Clementine was wearing a pair of low canvas shoes, pre-sumably borrowed from a crew member. She smiled as she saw Michaelmas looking at her feet. "Laurent," she said with a graceful inclination of her head. He took her hand, bowed, and kissed it.
"Thank you."
"Merci. Pas de quoi." A little bit of laughter lingered be-tween them in their eyes. She turned to the man beside her. His olive skin and sunken, lustrous, and very round brown eyes were not quite right for a pin-striped navy blue suit, but the vest and the gold watch-chain were fully appropri-ate. There were pens in his outer breast pocket, and chem-ical stains on his spatulate fingertips. "I would like you to meet an old acquaintance," Clementine said. "Laurent, this is Medical Doctor Kristiades Cikoumas, Dr. Limberg's chief associate. Kiki, this is Mr Michaelmas."
"A pleasure, Mr Michaelmas." The long fingers extended themselves limply. Cikoumas had a way of curling his lips inward as he spoke, so that he appeared to have no teeth at all.
Michaelmas found himself looking up at the man's palate.
"An occasion for me," Michaelmas said. "Permit me to extend my admiration for what has been accomplished here."
"Ah." Cikoumas waved his hands as if dispersing smoke. "A bagatelle. Your compliment is natural, but we look forward to much greater things in the future."
"Oh."
"You are with the media? A colleague of Madame Gervaise?"
"We are working together on this story."
Clementine murmured: "Mr Michaelmas is quite well known, Kiki."
"Ah, my apologies! I am familiar with Madame from her recent stay with us, but I know little of your professional world; I never watch entertainment."
"Then you have an enviable advantage over me, Doctor. Clementine, excuse me for interrupting your conversation, but I must get back to Berne. Is there an available car?"
"Of course, Laurent. We will go together. Au voir, Kiki."
Cikoumas bowed over her hand like a trick bird clamped to the edge of a water tumbler. "A revenance." Michaelmas wondered what would happen if he were to put his shoe squarely in the man's posterior.
On the ride back he sat away from her in a corner, the comm unit across his lap. After a while she said :
"Laurent, I thought you were pleased with me."
He nodded. "I was. Yes. It was good working with you."
"But you are disenchanted." Her eyes sparkled and she touched his arm. "Because of Kiki? I enjoy calling him that. He becomes so foolish when he has been in a cafe too long." Her eyes grew round as an owl's and her mouth be-came toothless. "Oh, he looks, so— comme un hibou, tu sais? — like the night bird with the big ears, and then he speaks amazingly. I am made nervous, and I joke with him a little, and he says it does not matter what I call him. A name is nothing, he says. Nothing is unique. But he does not like it, entirely, when I call him Kiki and say I do not think anyone else ever
"Mr Sakal is a little indisposed and had to leave," Lim-berg said. "As his co-host for this reception, I express his regrets." Frontiere nodded.
"I am very sorry to hear that," Michaelmas said. "Getulio, I wonder if I might take you aside and speak with you for just a moment. Excuse me, Dr. Limberg, Walter. I must leave for my hotel almost immediately, and Mr Frontiere and I have an old promise to keep."
"Certainly, Mr Michaelmas. Thank you for coming." Suck suck. Wisp.
Michaelmas moved Frontiere aside with a gentle touch on the upper arm. "I am at the Excelsior," he said quietly. "I will be in Switzerland perhaps a few hours more, perhaps not. I hope you'll be able to find the time to meet me." He laughed and affectionately patted Frontiere's cheek.
"I hope you can arrange it," he said in a normal tone. "Arrivederci." He turned away with a wave and moved towards where he had seen Clementine chatting beside a tall, cadaverous, fortyish bald man with a professorial manner.
Clementine was wearing a pair of low canvas shoes, pre-sumably borrowed from a crew member. She smiled as she saw Michaelmas looking at her feet. "Laurent," she said with a graceful inclination of her head. He took her hand, bowed, and kissed it.
"Thank you."
"Merci. Pas de quoi." A little bit of laughter lingered be-tween them in their eyes. She turned to the man beside her. His olive skin and sunken, lustrous, and very round brown eyes were not quite right for a pin-striped navy blue suit, but the vest and the gold watch-chain were fully appropri-ate. There were pens in his outer breast pocket, and chem-ical stains on his spatulate fingertips. "I would like you to meet an old acquaintance," Clementine said. "Laurent, this is Medical Doctor Kristiades Cikoumas, Dr. Limberg's chief associate. Kiki, this is Mr Michaelmas."
"A pleasure, Mr Michaelmas." The long fingers extended themselves limply. Cikoumas had a way of curling his lips inward as he spoke, so that he appeared to have no teeth at all.
Michaelmas found himself looking up at the man's palate.
"An occasion for me," Michaelmas said. "Permit me to extend my admiration for what has been accomplished here."
"Ah." Cikoumas waved his hands as if dispersing smoke. "A bagatelle. Your compliment is natural, but we look forward to much greater things in the future."
"Oh."
"You are with the media? A colleague of Madame Gervaise?"
"We are working together on this story."
Clementine murmured: "Mr Michaelmas is quite well known, Kiki."
"Ah, my apologies! I am familiar with Madame from her recent stay with us, but I know little of your professional world; I never watch entertainment."
"Then you have an enviable advantage over me, Doctor. Clementine, excuse me for interrupting your conversation, but I must get back to Berne. Is there an available car?"
"Of course, Laurent. We will go together. Au voir, Kiki."
Cikoumas bowed over her hand like a trick bird clamped to the edge of a water tumbler. "A revenance." Michaelmas wondered what would happen if he were to put his shoe squarely in the man's posterior.
On the ride back he sat away from her in a corner, the comm unit across his lap. After a while she said :
"Laurent, I thought you were pleased with me."
He nodded. "I was. Yes. It was good working with you."
"But you are disenchanted." Her eyes sparkled and she touched his arm. "Because of Kiki? I enjoy calling him that. He becomes so foolish when he has been in a cafe too long." Her eyes grew round as an owl's and her mouth be-came toothless. "Oh, he looks, so— comme un hibou, tu sais? — like the night bird with the big ears, and then he speaks amazingly. I am made nervous, and I joke with him a little, and he says it does not matter what I call him. A name is nothing, he says. Nothing is unique. But he does not like it, entirely, when I call him Kiki and say I do not think anyone else ever
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