The Athenian Murders by José Carlos Somoza Read Free Book Online Page B

statue of Athena to get her to speak: 'What does it mean? What do you mean?' The paper, of course, yields no an swers. I've calmed down now. (T .'s N.)
     

    For a brief moment, time stopped, spent. Diagoras, now chilled to the bone by the damp cold, gave himself away by whispering to the Decipherer's stout shadow: 'I never would have believed that Tramachus ... I mean, you understand . . . Purity was one of his greatest virtues, or so it seemed . . . This is the last thing I would have expected ... To associate with a vulgar ... He was still a boy! It hadn't occurred to me that he might be experiencing the normal desires of an ephebe . . . When Lisilus told me—'
    'Quiet,' Heracles' shadow said suddenly.
    Quick scraping sounds came from the tunnel, as if someone were walking over rubble. Diagoras felt the Decipherer's warm breath in his ear just before he heard his voice.
    'Jump on her quickly. Protect your crotch with your hand and watch her knees. Try to calm her.'
    'But—'
    'Do as I say, or she'll get away again. I'll back you.'
    What does he mean? wondered Diagoras, undecided. But there was no more time for questions.
    Agile, quick, silent, a shadow, thrown by the trace of moonlight, spread like a carpet over the ground at the crossroads. Diagoras flung himself upon it and, without warning, it turned into a body. A mass of perfumed hair swung in his face, like a slap, and a muscular form struggled in his arms. Gripping tightly, Diagoras pushed her against the opposite wall. 'That's enough, by Apollo!' he cried. 'We're not going to hurt you! We just want to talk to you. Calm yourself.' The figure became still and Diagoras backed slightly. He could not see her face as it was masked by her hands, but her eyes peered through fingers as slender as the antlers of a young stag. 'We want to ask you a few questions . . . about an ephebe named Tramachus. You knew him, didn't you?'
    Calmer now, Diagoras thought she would eventually open the delicate doors formed by her hands and show her face.
    Then came a flash of lightning in his lower abdomen. The pain, at first, was a perfect, blinding light that flooded his eyes like liquid spilling, relentless, over the edge of a crater. The sensation took a little longer, crouching between his legs before stretching furiously and exploding into his consciousness as if spewing shards of glass. He fell, coughing, to the ground, and didn't even feel his head strike the paving stones.
    There was a scuffle. Heracles Pontor threw himself upon the figure. He was far less gentle than Diagoras, grabbing her slim arms and pushing her roughly against the wall. She moaned - a manly gasp. Again he slammed her against the wall. The figure tried to strike back, but Heracles leaned his fat body against her so that she couldn't use her knees. He saw Diagoras struggle to his feet. He spoke quickly to his prey: ‘I’l l only hurt you if you give me no choice. And if you strike my companion again, I'll have no choice.' He turned to Diagoras and said: 'Keep a tight hold of her this time. I told you to watch out for her knees.'
    Diagoras muttered to the shadow, gasping painfully with each word: 'My friend ... speaks the truth ... We don't wish to hurt you ... Do you understand?'
    The shadow nodded, but the philosopher kept a firm grip on her arms.
    At last, the struggle subsided, just as cold relinquishes the muscles in a rapid race. Panting, Diagoras felt the flat, anonymous, blurred figure, which he held firmly against the wall, turn quickly into a woman. He sensed the volume of her breasts, the narrowness of her waist, the different smell, the smooth firmness. He observed curly hair, slender limbs, curves. Lastly, he made out her face.
    His first thought was that her face was strange. He realised that, for some reason, he had imagined she would be very beautiful. But she wasn't: her curly hair was an untidy mat of fur; her eyes were too large and pale, like those of a swift, timid animal, although in the