The Jealousy Man and Other Stories

He had me exactly where he wanted me.

A small hand lifted my own from my face.

I looked up and there was Oscar holding something up in the air. The gut and the coat sleeve. Knotted together. I took hold of it and pulled at the two ends, but they held fast. I stared in disbelief at the knot. And then I recognised it. It was a sheet bend. And I remembered what my father had said when I told him that Maria and I were going to get married. That with certain women the knot to use was a bowline, easy to tie and easy to untie. But getting married, the knot to use then was a sheet bend; the harder you pulled, the tighter it got.

‘Where did you learn...?’

Oscar saluted with two fingers held to his forehead.

‘Cubs?’

He nodded.

Just then the phone — which I had placed on the floor, along with my keys and wallet — began to vibrate. I picked it up. FaceTime again, and once again I had a full-strength signal.

I pressed Take Call and again Greco’s face filled the screen.

‘Hi, Lukas. She’s on her way. Look, she’s just parked outside.’

He held the phone up to a computer screen. I saw a street, obviously in a fashionable residential area, and the door of an Alfa Romeo opening. I felt as though someone had injected iced water into my chest. The woman who got out and crossed the road moved like a pro. And like a queen.

Greco spoke from behind the phone: ‘When you can’t find them, the thing you have to do is make them come to you.’

Judith was wearing the red coat she always wore when attending business meetings. When she was going to war, as she used to say. She removed it before the meeting started and wore beneath it a snowy white blouse. That symbolised a blank sheet of paper, she said. A willingness to compromise. And before she put her coat back on again she had always got a deal for her client. Always. It was so obvious when I thought about it now, the way you understand every genius chess move once it’s been shown to you.

Gio Greco had been Judith’s lover longer than me, he knew her better. He was also a better chess player than me. He knew I would call her when he said those words: ‘You and I are alone at least, now that she’s been taken from us both.’ And he knew what she’d do once she realised Greco had me in his power; go and see him and do what she was best at doing: negotiate a deal.

Greco’s grinning face filled the screen again: ‘You look like you realise what’s happening here, Lukas. The Queen is going to die. All is lost. Or is it?’ He lowered his voice dramatically, like a game-show host on one of those franchises spewed out by the Tokyo cartel. ‘Maybe you can save her after all. Yes, you know what: I’m going to give you one last chance to stop me. You can use your weapon. The great Lukas Meyer will hypnotise the terrible Gio Greco and save the day. Come on. You’ve got about fifteen seconds before she gets here.’ Greco opened his eyes wide as though to show how ready and responsive he was.

I swallowed.

Greco raised a slender, shaven eyebrow. ‘Something wrong?’

‘Listen—’ I began.

‘Can’t do it, Lukas? Performance anxiety? Do you get that too when she needs fucking?’

I didn’t answer.

‘OK, that wasn’t really fair,’ said Greco. ‘See, that psychologist I was telling you about, he suggested hypnosis as a cure for depression, but when we tried it, it turned out I’m not a good subject. He said it was because of my so-called personality disorders. I’m immune to it. I mean, there must be some advantages to being insane.’

Laughter. The T and the long S again, like the hiss of a punctured bicycle tyre. Then he was gone from the screen. The phone appeared to be placed on a shelf or suchlike, and I saw something that looked like a hallway and an oak door with an entryphone. There was a jarring, ringing sound. Greco appeared on the screen again, his back to me, his white suit gleaming. He seemed to be holding something up in his hand so that I couldn’t see. He picked up the entryphone with his free hand.

‘Yes?’ Pause. Then, in a surprised voice: ‘No, is that you, darling? How lovely, it’s been such a long time. Well, well. So at least you still remember where you used to live.’

He pressed the button on the entryphone. I heard a distant buzz and then the sound of a door opening. I was clutching my own phone so hard I thought I might crush it. How could Judith, who was so intelligent, who knew Greco so well, fail to see that he had smoked her out from her hiding place by using me? The answer came back as quick as the question. Of course she knew. And still she’d come. Because there was no alternative — this was her only chance to save me.

I wept. No tears came, but my whole body was sobbing. I wished I’d lied to her. Told her I loved her. Given her that at least. Because she was going to die. And I was going to watch.