Trafika Europe 8 - Romanian Holiday

Life Begins on Friday

CAPITAL’S POLICE.

Friday, 19 December: An Eventful Day Section 4

There are two things in life of which you are never bored: looking at falling snow flakes and gazing at the flames in a fireplace. At dawn that Saturday, Mr Costache was able to do both of these at once. It had started to snow and for a while he had looked out of the window onto Victory Avenue. Now he was looking at the flames. He had finished his Turkish coffee, laced with French brandy, to help him forget his annoyance at the disappearance of the case, and he had glanced at the announcement in Universul , taking note, without surprise, that it had been placed between

two stupid advertisements. What prestige could the Police preserve if its requests were placed next to an advertisement for a confectioner’s? And it was not even a renowned confectioner’s, like old man Fialkowski’s, but one that was here today and gone tomorrow. Then he came across the news item about the man found in the snow: ‘The man under arrest who was found unconscious yesterday almost frozen near Băneasa Forest (by the lakes) has declared that his name is Dan I. Kretzu, that he is a...’ and observed two things: primo , that they had spelled his name with

167