Lunatics

Lunatics · Chap 039 · Paying a visit to the absent

39 · Paying a visit to the absent

THE RAIN had not yet hit downtown and people there stared with curiosity. Marcus was all wet. The Altenwurst was delicious even with too much mustard sauce. He licked his fingers and took a generous sip of the peach juice before leaving.

He looked around and perceived there were few other costumers inside. He walked up to the entrance door keeping his eyes on the Lex technicians; they had arrived ten minutes late. Marcus turned his small hand recorder on and plugged the phones to his ears.

The conversation between the two men was done in a language Marcus believed to be Hungarian or Czech. He posted himself in the distance, leaning against the opposite wall to the Savoir Faire building.

The tallest of the technicians was very handsome but had serious zit problems and his face seemed like a copy of the surface of the Moon. He stood before the verifier at the entrance, passed his IDCard and entered a code. Tut-tut-tut-tut-tut-tut. Six digits, six tones, all clearly recorded. He was on the brink to get access to Ibrahim Mousmée’s apartment.

His previous contact with the janitor’s wife had provided what he needed to start. Speaking on her husband’s behalf, he had called the technicians to fix the verifier which did not need repair. Marcus had no serious problem purchasing the tiny recorder at a nearby shop. He had just to wait for the coming of the technicians while eating a sandwich at Patriarca Juices. The wait was over and he had to take care of a minor detail.

Marcus could not hold his giggle when he saw the old woman leaving the building with a cat in one arm and carrying an empty cart with the other hand. She saw the men and charged. Still smiling, he took off the phones and almost felt sorry for the innocent men he had framed.

The shorter man had a dark wart on his bulky nose which moved with every word yelled in his home language. Dona Rosa acted like a sturdy soldier between the surprised men and the verifier which did not need fixing. The taller used his communicator, probably asking for guidance from their employers. After cutting the call, both men decided to walk away from the old lady who seemed to have no need to breathe.

When they were half a block away from the Savoir Faire, Marcus approached them discreetly and poked the elbow of the shorter one.

“Please.”

The short man with the dark wart faced him with a serious expression.

“You work with Souza verifiers?”

The man turned to his companion and talked in Czech or Hungarian. The taller answered the question and addressed Marcus, using a strong accent.

“Iff yoo has Suza better eshange for Lex. Suza mat bad. Suza uze tone verify. Eezee to shit. Ve vorks Lex, Veritek tak Virtagarde. Jak Veritek tak Virtagarde gud. Lex better. Lex mat better.”

“You do the exchange?”

“Ano, sir! Ano! Eshange eezee. Mat rychle. Lex gud. Suza bad. Nikdy uze Suza.”

“Ano, ano.” The shorter man smiled too.

“Do you have a calling card?”

The taller technician produced a holocard with a smile wrinkling his crater-filled face. He handed the card to Marcus and shook his hand.

“Call us!”

“Thank you. What’s your name?”

The man spoke something that sounded Shellshiski to Marcus. The young man waved goodbye and let the foreigners, Czech or Hungarian, keep their way.