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Ioana Pârvulescu
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were hiding anything from
the police he would be in
big trouble, and from the
frightened expression on
Petre’s face he drew the
conclusion that he had not
told him everything. He did
not think it was anything
important: perhaps he had
taken a ring from the man’s
finger or something of the
sort, but sooner or later it
would be revealed.
‘What was he doing when
you found him? Was he
awake?’
‘He was lying on his side and
goggling at the horse, which
was taking a biss, bardon my
language, as if he’d never
seen a horse bissing in his
life. I found him just as I was
about to go back to town.
He could hardly sit ub. I was
afraid he might fall off the
box. I thought he was blind
drunk.’
It did not seem that the
coachman had anything
else worthwhile to tell. He
sent him away, first giving
him an order to pass on
to the confectioner, since
on Christmas Eve he was
invited to the house of both
the Margulis family and the
Livezeanu family (he had not
yet decided which invitation
to accept). He had not been
hoping for very much from
the coachman and he had
not been mistaken. He rang
the bell once more, calling
theslow-wittedoldmanback
from the door and feeling
sorry for him. He discovered
that the coachman who had
been assigned to follow the
man named Crețu was in the
building and he demanded
to see him straight away. He
received a report on all the
details of the previous night,
the man’s crazy journey
around the streets, his