The Spiritualist's Dilemma

Dark Night

Maya walked past a couple of houses on Mill Street then stopped in her tracks. She turned back to cast a sly glance at the professor's house. Chinew had gone inside and the door was closed. Maya turned and walked back to the house. She stood near the gate to the garden and observed the symbols on the window.

She hopped a few steps to the right and glanced at the window again. Then she jogged past Chinew's house and stood on the other side to look at the window again. The symbols had to be read, she concluded finally, either by someone from the house directly in front of the professor's house or a passerby on the street. The former couldn't be the case as the house was locked, and a pile of unopened newspapers lying on the doorstep told her that it had been closed for at least a week. This left only one possibility. Someone in the street went past the house each night to note the mysterious symbols. The intruder had returned for two consecutive nights, there was reason to believe that he would return tonight as well.

The clock at the Temple Bridge tolled 9. It was an important night, Maya had to be prepared.

She walked over to the tamarind tree two houses past the professor's house to lay waiting for the intruder's accomplice. She had contemplated waiting inside the house as well but suspected that the intruder, whoever he was, might not make an appearance if he found anything suspicious. That was the reason she had asked the professor to not lay awake, as that could have discouraged the intruder. Sitting on the pavement gave her the best chance to identify the intruder's accomplice who would, without doubt, lead her to the intruder himself.

Maya studied the pavement, then opened her purse to produce a dirty jute sack which she kept at all times in her bag. She spread it on the ground, lay down upon it with her head on her bag, and pulled a ragged sheet, also in her purse, upon herself. People passing on the street would now consider her no more than a sleeping beggar. There were so many beggars in Cardim that people thought nothing of them, they ignored them like one ignores birds and stray dogs. That was the reason that beggars were often the most resourceful informers in her line of work.

Maya found it hard to lay still though. The jute sack had a family of bugs which made her wait painful and itchy. But more than that, just the excitement of being so close to a breakthrough in the mystery caused her body to shiver and twitch in anticipation. She kept her eyes fixed firmly on the professor's door. If she was lucky, she might even see the intruder break into the house, though she did not think there was a great chance of that. For one she did not think that the intruder 'broke into' the house.

A constant stream of people passed through the street but no one gave a significant enough glance upon Chinew's house. An old man stopped just in front of the professor's gate and for a moment Maya actually felt that she had found the man she was looking for. But he merely rummaged through his pockets, then turned and left without glancing towards the house. An hour into the night, Maya got up and went over to the house to look at the window, there were no new symbols, not on the two windows already painted nor on the one window left untouched. Maya checked the watch in her purse, it was 10 already, the man she was waiting for should come soon. She went back to her place and lay in wait, but the man never made an appearance.

As the night turned darker, the stream of people passing through the street dwindled gradually, till, at midnight, the street became shorn of any being apart from a few stray dogs looking for a place to retire for the night. Maya's initial excitement had slowly ebbed as the night wore on. It seemed like the intruder had decided against drawing the symbols tonight. Had he already fulfilled what he wanted to? Were there only two codes to be shared? She could only speculate. When the Temple Bridge clock tolled 1, she decided to get up and walk away. The bug bites from the jute sack were becoming unbearable. Maya folded the sack and the sheet and dusted herself. The street had been devoid of any traffic for the last one hour but as soon as Maya got up she saw a face she least expected to find at this hour.

Ernst Wilhelm trundled through the street, swaying unsteadily from one side to the other. Maya had first met the Junior Lieutenant a few months ago while working on the case of a mysterious grave robber. He was an officer in the Vasco Constabulary and together they had solved the mystery. The two had crossed paths often after that. Usually dressed immaculately in his uniform, Ernst surprised her by his shabby appearance. His bright blue shirt was untucked and he had unbuckled his belt and put it on his shoulder. The High Guard seemed to be drunk. He peered curiously at Maya, his eyes twinkling in recognition. Maya suddenly became very conscious of her appearance, her hair, she realized were disheveled and sequined with twigs and dirt, her skirt was white with dust, and jute threads lingered all over her frame. Maya tried to walk away hiding her face but Ernst was quick to catch up with her.

"Maya!" he exclaimed, visibly overjoyed. The officer reeked of alcohol and found it hard to keep steady. "I thought I was hallucinating when I saw you from far off, but it is you all right. Are you not," he grinned idiotically swaying from side to side, "Are you having a party as well? Like me."

Maya straightened her hair and fidgeted her feet looking for an excuse.

"I was at a friend's house but suddenly remembered that I had to be at home, so I am going back now."

Ernst didn't seem to be in any condition to scrutinize her excuse.

"Do you want me to walk you to your house?" he asked.

"No, it's quite all right. I think I can keep myself safe."

The High Guard smiled, "yes I know that."

Not so long ago Maya had saved Ernst from a bunch of occult monks adamant at sacrificing the High Guard to get arcane powers.

"What are you doing here though," asked Maya, "are you working night shift."

"Night shift!" exclaimed Ernst, "What makes you think I work in shifts. I have no shift. I work the whole day and the whole night and the time between. This damned city is teeming with criminals, it wouldn't do if I work in shift. They would run riot, these rascals." Ernst puffed up his chest and grinned, "I took tonight off though. I was not working."

He suddenly lost his footing and had to grab a lamppost to steady himself.

"Tonight I was with a few colleagues celebrating in a pub nearby, just round this street. One of my fellow officers has left the department. He is moving to South Africa, says he has an uncle there whose fortune he is inheriting. Lucky bastard! He is leaving the day after in the Ship to Cape Town. So, a dozen of us friends thought that we'd give him a farewell."

Maya nodded. "If you don't like your job you too have a reasonable fortune to inherit," she said. Ernst Wilhelm was the only son of one of the richest merchants of Cardim, but he had become a High Guard, much against his father's wishes, because he had no interest in running a business. He had even left his sprawling bungalow and lived in a shabby apartment.

Ernst grinned again. "Don't take me too seriously," he said, "I don't think you realize that I am very slightly drunk."

"Oh are you?"

"Don't tell no one."

"I will not." Maya prepared to take leave.

"I should go now?" she said, "I would be able to get a hansom from the bridge."

"No, no!" Ernst protested, "It is not safe. I will accompany you. Let's go."

He held her hand and pulled her along.

"Wait," said Maya, "the bridge is on the other side."

The High Guard scratched his head. "You are right. I am slightly drunk you know."

He turned slowly, careful not to lose his footing, and took a step towards the Temple Bridge but was jerked back. Maya, whose hand he still held, stood rooted to her place. She had cast one final glance at the professor's house before leaving and found that the third window was no longer blank. It too was covered in the same strange symbols as the other two windows.