the man later?’
‘I don’t know. I never found out who he was.’
‘Why not?’
‘It’s a good thing I didn’t, otherwise I would’ve had to kill him.’
‘Who are you?’
‘Samo, Samo Gram. The kids at school were teasing me. They said I’m nothing but a gram. Who’s nothing but a Gram now? I showed them.’
‘Who were you before that?’
‘I see green light. I’m blinded by the meadows. They’ll go up in flames, can’t you see?’
‘I will ask again. Who were you before you were born as Samo Gram?’
‘Many.’
‘For instance?’
‘I’m a rafter, here on the Drava River. The river, its current, my life. Those were wonderful years, but I didn’t know it. I just missed my family too much, my four sons and my wife. We love each other.’
‘More,’ says Bely.
‘I can smell a damp darkness. My bloody cough eats through my lungs and nostrils. I see a small lamp that flickers down the tunnel where I work as a mercury miner. Yesterday three miners were killed when the tunnel next to this one collapsed. While I dig I keep seeing the images of those disfigured bodies that I helped to carry out. They were so cold, even though we dug them out right away.’
‘Go on.’
‘I was also a nun in a convent. It was before the First World War.’
‘In a convent?’
‘I healed lepers in Bavaria.’ Gram giggles.
Bely looks at the dial. The needle is still floating in the middle. ‘Why are you laughing?’
‘I was a lesbian, but fortunately nobody ever found out about it, except for Anna.’
‘Anna?’
‘She was another Benedictine sister, my lover.’
‘What are you truly afraid of?’
‘Calvary.’
From behind the bar comes the sound of rattling bottles. Rosa flings a bottle on to the floor so it shatters. Then she brings one over and places it on the table before Bely. Jack Daniels. Bely looks sternly at her but continues to interrogate Mr G.
‘What Calvary?’ Bely continues. ‘Calvary.’
‘Do you mean Christ’s Calvary?’
‘You must be kidding me. Not that Calvary. I meant Calvary, the hill above the city of Maribor. I thought you were from around here, but I see you know shit about it. I’m scared of Calvary and the power of the Great Orc.’
‘What’s the Great Orc?’
‘Great Orc, the thirteen guardians of secrets.’ Gram giggles again. ‘What’s so funny this time?’ asks Bely.
‘Some people don’t even know they belong to the Orc,’ replies Gram seriously. ‘Most of them don’t know who the other members are. The thirteen of the Great Orc run this city. They run it, but they’re clueless as to the whys and wherefores …’
Rosa tilts back the bottle, takes a swig and places it back on the newspaper. Her cloudy brown eye hangs at half-mast.
‘You know a lot,’ says Bely.
‘That was my job, to know a lot. If I hadn’t known a lot I wouldn’t be here today.’
‘Namen. Wer sind Sie?’ Rosa cries out.
‘I can’t, the Great Orc, they’ll kill me,’ screams Gram, terrified. He begins to tremble, and the oppressive stench of pig emanates from him.
‘Don’t worry, we’ll save you,’ says Bely.
‘The Great Orc will kill me. No one is powerful enough to escape the Great Orc!’
‘Do you believe in absolution?’
‘I don’t know what absolution is. What do you mean?’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ says Bely. ‘Just keep in mind that you’ll be leaving here absolved. You’ll be alive, and the Great Orc won’t be able to harm you.’
‘I’m too old to escape abroad. Besides, there’s nowhere I would be safe.’
‘Don’t worry, we know of a place where you’ll be perfectly safe. You won’t have been so safe since the day you were born. Now, just tell me their names.’
‘I don’t know all of them. I only know a few.’
Bely watches the needle on his measuring device. Now and then it swings violently to the left.
‘Namen. Wir wollen Namen!’ shouts Rosa. She dips her left glove into the drink stain feeding on the newspaper headlines, text columns and photographs and draws a big circle on the paper.
Gram lists six names. ‘Tine Mesarič, Dorfler, Laszlo Farkas, Pavel Don Kovač, Anastasia Grin, Magda Ornik.’
‘More. We need all thirteen.’
‘That’s all I know.’
The needle on the E-meter leans heavily to the left.
‘How can he be lying when he’s in such a deep trance?’ mutters Bely. Rosa pulls a cork out of a bottle with her teeth, spits it out, then tilts the bottle and smashes it against the table so the whisky splashes all over Gram. Gram remains motionless. Vitreous shards lie scattered across the drenched newspaper. Rosa sweeps them off and points at a photograph.
‘Ja. Him, too.’
‘What do you know about him?’
‘Too much. We used to play together as kids. Later on he was my room-mate at cadet school, which I failed to finish because of him. Somebody stole the director’s wallet and slipped it into my locker. We haven’t been able to stand each other since. When he was appointed mayor he tried everything to drive me out of the city. But I’m no easy target. I have my own information, which is why he lets me be now. He knows very well I could harm him or even bring him down.’
Rosa looks at Adam.
‘Is he telling the truth?’ she asks in Slovenian.
Adam examines the needle and nods. ‘Any more?’
‘That’s it. I don’t know any other names.’
Bely and Rosa look at each other.
Rosa turns off the Dictaphone and wipes it against the black orchids on her dress.
