Deadly Communion AKA Vienna Twilight

278 Pages·2009·1.07 MB·English

by  Tallis Frank

Deadly
Communion
Frank Tallis
Contents
Cover
Title
Copyright
Part One
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Part Two
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Part Three
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Part Four
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
SOURCES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Also by Frank Tallis
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Version 1.0
Epub ISBN 9781409069966
www.randomhouse.co.uk
Published by Century 2010
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Copyright © Frank Tallis 2010
Frank Tallis has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the
author of this work This novel is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s
imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental This book is sold
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published and without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent
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Part One
The Theseus Temple
1
LIEBERMANN WAS SEATED ON a wooden chair at the head of the rest bed. He had
adopted an attitude which he found conducive to listening: legs crossed, his right
fist against his cheek, the tip of his index finger resting gently on his temple. His
supine patient — Herr Norbert Erstweiler — could not see the young doctor. In
fact, Herr Erstweiler could see very little apart from the white ceiling and, if he
dropped his gaze, a plain door in which a panel of opaque glass had been
mounted. Herr Erstweiler’s eyes were restless. Their agitated movements
suggested unease, apprehension. It was as if — Liebermann thought — Herr
Erstweiler was worried that someone might intrude.
‘I am not expecting anybody,’ said Liebermann.
‘I beg your pardon?’
‘We shan’t be interrupted. No one will come in.’
‘Good … I wouldn’t want that.’
‘You were saying that your sleep is disturbed.’
‘That’s right. I can’t get to sleep any more. I get into bed, extinguish the lamp,
and I am immediately overcome by terror. It’s the darkness … something about
the darkness.’
‘Something in the darkness?’
‘No, I wouldn’t say that. I would say it was the quality of the darkness itself
… its emptiness. I haven’t been eating, either. My appetite has completely gone
and my stools are loose.’
Liebermann noticed that Herr Erstweiler’s hands were trembling slightly.
‘Do you have difficulty breathing, Herr Erstweiler?’
‘Yes — my chest feels tight … and my heart, I can feel it pounding all the
time. There’s something wrong with it. I know there is.’
Liebermann consulted the notes on his lap.
‘No, Herr Erstweiler. There is nothing wrong with your heart.’
‘I’m not sure the cardiologist I saw conducted a thorough examination.’
‘Professor Schulde is an expert.’
Erstweiler glanced at the door.