Alphabet House by Jussi Adler-Olsen Page B

hunch his shoulders with such a start that his entire torso shook. However the observers didn’t appear to regard this as anything unusual.
    The doctor walked behind the officer who, looking up from his papers, did an about-turn, grabbed something from the table and flung it towards Bryan, all in one movement. He would not have been able to defend himself even if he’d tried. A pain at the bridge of his nose made him open his eyes wide.
    Apart from that he kept a straight face.
    From the next compartment came the sound of a blow that made the patient cry out, and then another blow that made him stop. The security officer smiled at Bryan again and conferred with the doctor, who spoke so fast that Bryan would not have been able to understand a word even if it had been his mother tongue. The officer shrugged his shoulders and got up as Bryan was led out to the others.
    Here he came to stand just opposite James, who was still waiting in the relatively short line. His dripping-wet shirt still clung to his body. Just under the neckline was a dark shadow. Bryan stiffened. James was wearing Jill’s scarf again. Even though this crazy act could prove fatal, James appeared relaxed and calm. But Bryan knew better. Beneath the facade he radiated terror. All his senses were on red alert. Without his talisman he had nothing to cling to.
    But it would also be the death of him if he didn’t get rid of it.
    It’s OK
, Bryan mouthed, but James just shook his head silently and took a step forward like the others.
    The chief security officer finally got up from his seat and signalled to the little group of men over in the corner, those who had helped themselves to blankets during the night, to line up beside the curtain nearest the door.
    Behind the curtain, loud bursts of anger almost raised the roof and the canvas began pulsating as if a fight were going on behind it. The chief security officer’s face was bright red when they tore down the curtain and hauled the man who had been questioned across the floor, his feet dragging after him and torment painted all over his face.
    Two guards seized his arm. The culprit stared wildly at the apathetic assembly, searching in vain for something to cling to. Bryan looked at him with eyes out of focus. Blood was quietly trickling down the man’s forehead. He, too, had been hit by something. Perhaps he’d made the mistake of trying to ward it off.
    The senior officer sat down heavily on the corner of the table behind him, smiling cruelly at the guards as they dragged the patient around amongst the others so they could see him from close up. Then he stopped smiling. Breathing deeply in aggressive concentration, he roared his accusation at the rows of men who again began to fidget nervously. The words tumbled out in bursts as the furious man stood with his hands clenched behind his back, rocking back and forth on his toes. There was no mistaking one of the words.
    Malingering!
    The man stopped trembling when he heard the charge. He let his head fall limply forward, aware of his guilt, unmasked and prepared to suffer the consequences.
    Suddenly the officer stopped short in the middle of his outburst of rage. Then, smiling jovially, he spread his arms wide as he appealed gently to his audience. Bryan grasped that he was trying to get other malingerers to own up, if there were any. Nothing would happen to them as long as they stepped forward now, while there was still time.
    It was impossible to look over at James as long as this beast was inspecting them.
We’re not giving ourselves up, James!
Bryan pleaded silently, mostly to himself.
    The officer stood waiting, nodding smilingly at the groups of men for just as long as it took Bryan to say the Lord’s Prayer. Then suddenly he stepped behind the accused, drew his pistol and executed the culprit with a shot to the back of the head before the man could manage to scream.
    The rest of the assembly scarcely reacted. Blood welled out of the man’s head