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Chapter 2

Chapter 2

He entered a gloomy passageway and it smelled of stuffiness and decay. Only light came through the doors behind his back and it was so dark he wasn’t able to see the end of the passageway.

He carefully felt around the wall that had several spots where the plaster was peeled off. Finally he reached the light switch.

When lit the corridor didn’t appear sinister anymore and even the smell of decay was almost gone.

There were the stairs direct ahead. On the left side was a set of apartment doors. Somewhere in the middle he saw the elevator. He started toward it but after just a few steps he noted the hand written sign “Out of order” hanging on the elevator door. How typical, he thought to himself. He left out a deep sigh and unwillingly turned back to the stairs.

It was a typical city multi-storey building with many flats and all the floors were look-alike. Here and there were some flowers in pots, but he couldn’t figure out how they manage without the daylight. Passing by he was observing the doormats. Some were colorful, of vivid colors, some had inscriptions like “welcome” and some were eaten away by the passing time. He imagined the people living behind these walls.

When he came to the fourth floor he was so breathless he needed a short rest. He sat on the top stair and tried to regain his breath. Suddenly he heard a rattling sound on the other side of the hall. The door opened and through came a tiny older woman. When she saw Peter her expression became serious and she slowly neared him. She gave him a pitying look:

“Sir, are you all right.”

 He just nodded because he hadn’t had enough breath to speak.

She carefully went past him and ran down the stairs.

He got up and moved on still without of breath. He finally made it to the top floor. He needed a while to figure out which door was the right one. He gently turned the door knob and realized the door isn’t locked. He opened it and shouted loudly:

“Hello.”

“You may enter. It’s not locked.”

The voice was calm and monotonous. It didn’t show any outburst of emotions. Peter pushed the door and it opened fully. He looked around the place. The foyer was pretty small. There was a low wardrobe by the right wall and a coat hanger on the left. There were a lot of clothes hanging from it. The door in the opposite wall led to the larger room and on the window he saw a sitting man.

“Hi. My name is…”

“Welcome, inspector Knutz. I must admit that I’m pleased they have sent you.”

“How on earth…”

“How do I know your name?”

“Yes!”

“Let me just say for the time being we have met before.”

Peter stepped forward so he could have a better look of the man. He was young, somewhere between 20 and 25. He had neatly combed short black hair. He looked a bit boyish because of his smoothly shaved chin and soft features. He turned toward Peter and he saw some sort of a glitter in his eyes.

“My name is Milo,” he shortly introduced himself.

“I can’t say that I remember ever meeting you,” said Peter after a short consideration.