Читать книгу The Man Between - Чарльз Камминг - Страница 7

‘Would you prefer to talk or to write everything down?’

‘Talk,’ she said.

Somerville crossed the room and activated the voice recorder. The American had brought it from the Embassy. There was a small microphone attached to a stand, a glass of tap water and a plate of biscuits on the table.

‘Ready?’ he asked.

‘Ready.’

Somerville leaned over the microphone. His voice was clear, his language concise.

‘Statement by LASZLO. Chapel Street, SW1. August nineteenth. Officer presiding: L4. Begins now.’ He checked his watch. ‘Seventeen hundred hours.’

Lara Bartok adjusted the collar of her shirt. She caught Somerville’s eye. He nodded at her, indicating that she should start. She brought the microphone slightly closer to her and took a sip of water. The American realised that he was standing in her eyeline. He moved to a chair on the far side of the room. Bartok did not continue until he was still and completely silent.

‘In the beginning, there were seven,’ she said.