Picture in the dark

Lora Slámová

Acknowledgements

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.

First published 2015

© Lora Slámová

Cover © Lora Slámová

© Mgr. Tomáš Zahradníček - TZ-one

ISBN: 978-80-7539-002-8 (ePub)

ISBN: 978-80-7539-003-5 (mobi)

ISBN: 978-80-7539-004-2 (PDF)

Chapter one: Ordinary work

Ordinary Thursday afternoon; I am in a car on the corner of Jahodová street in Prague 10, and I am waiting for Mr. Velínský to come out of the entrance of the number 254, accompanied by his next mistress. I would prefer playing a game of chess with Professor Skalický, which is something we usually do on Thursdays, but I have been stuck here for over two hours instead. This kind of work does not make me happy. And why should it? About three months ago, Marie Velínská contacted me and asked for my services. She was absolutely sure her husband has a mistress, for she had accidentally read his e-mail. Well, I could speculate, how accidental it was; I think the woman was fully occupied by what her husband was doing and with whom. She has been snooping around so vehemently that she has routinely been reading his SMS messages, searching through his jacket, pants and a briefcase in which she has allegedly been watching the number of Viagra pills. Alas, when one was missing; she would give her husband a hard time, making him hysterical scenes, even though she would never admit what she knew. I think Mr. Velínský knew well where this was coming from, but he pretended he did not care, without getting out of his rut. They had two daughters, both having the university degree, and despite the fact they were in their thirties already, they would not leave their parents‘ house. And why should they; after all, their mother kept doing everything for them, they had enough money, so they could keep indulging in their only passion in the form of exuberant parties, in an attempt to become celebrities and make their way into the modelling world. The truth is, they weren’t too successful, but they were not going to give up. So Renata started to date an elderly rich man, without being bothered by the fact that he is married; after all, she could travel around the world with him and spend weekends in Monaco, where she had her own apartment. There was only this little problem that her married boyfriend had to find time for her in his already busy private life. Some years ago, Marina got to the finals of the Czech Miss, but it was obvious that she was affected by that, and it changed her life; but not for the good. She has never coped with the thought, that she did not become the Miss, probably being submerged in the mirror of her beauty. And so, in an attempt to make her way in the world, she did everything possible – changed the colour and length of her hair to resemble the girl who actually became the Miss as much as possible. Then she was greatly pleased by the strangers asking her on the street for her autograph, thinking they met the real beauty queen.

She mistakenly believed that she was getting closer to her dream that way. She dated only with football and hockey players. It amused me, that whenever they got to know her a little better, dear Marina got dumped. She has now changed her strategy a little, and became acquainted with a tabloid photographer, who, of course, sometimes, somewhere, as if casually, took a picture of her, and so she rejoiced that she can see her face in the papers, hence becoming a celebrity. It seems curious to me, what values some of us prefer. Beauty and style, emaciated anorexics like a meter, the nature of their personality completely lost. But to understand this family perfectly, you have to start with the parents, Marie and Alexandr Velínský. I recognized quickly, with whom I have the honour: a hysterical mother with no self-confidence, suffering with disintegration of personality, weakness, and a fear of personal failure. She did not want to lose what she has achieved in her marriage and that she was an entrepreneur’s wife. She had a lion’s share on the education of their daughters, inculcating them from their childhood that they are something more than the others. Her own desire for success and uniqueness was apparently reflected in that. Her husband, as it is common these days, had gradually reached his position, and along with his achievements, of course, his appetite for a change and exploring new horizons increased. A typical example of greed for money and power. At home, in the family where nobody worked and everyone was just waiting for benefits and position in the society, he had to choke. As an escape, he had a variety of mistresses, which he was dating on this address; it was an apartment, borrowed from a colleague from the company. Every week, he would bring his secretaries, colleagues, and acquaintances here; he really was a true a hunter. I do not know whether his wife had a full control of his Viagra pills supply, because considering the crowds I have seen over the time, he would need at least a juggernaut.

When Marie first came to me, I did not understand why she wants to use my services, when she knows about the infidelity of her husband already. But she insisted that she wants to have tangible evidence of his infidelity in her hands, so I agreed. If she wants to spend his hard earned money, it’s her choice. Apparently she wanted to give her husband hard time, holding all the aces in the form of the photos.

As I sat there and waited for Mr. Velínský, my phone rang.

„Yes, lieutenant, nice to hear you.“

„Hey Adrian, would you have a moment for me?“ came from the phone, and from the expression in the voice, I sensed it was a serious matter.

„For you, Jiří, always. So in an hour at my place?“

The lieutenant agreed. When I ended the conversation, Mr. Velínský finally came out of the number 254; I pulled out the camera and took another picture for the collection. I was glad that I could wrap it up here today, and I drove home as quickly as I could. The traffic was fortunately quite smooth, so I arrived fairly soon. I indulged a shower and got ready for the lieutenant.

Table of Contents

Copyright

Chapter one: Ordinary work