Crystal Masks

"They’re all behaviours that occur in any ordinary family: the older brother very jealous of the younger one and frightened that the parents may love the little one more than him."

"Yes, that’s true, but Peter exaggerated those behaviours. Despite the way he picked on me, though, he was my idol. I tried to imitate him in everything: in the way he dressed, combed his hair, interacted with girls..."

He paused as if to reflect, then shook his head smiling.

"He had a lot of savoir-faire and a way of behaving that went beyond his good looks, which already made him a winner! But trying to be like my brother didn't work for me. I envied him, and over time I even started to hold grudges against him because of that. In retaliation, I tried to be the first in my class at school. I was able to overcome my laziness when it came to studying and discovered that it was easy for me to get good grades, which until then had been rather poor. I had achieved my goal: my parents praised me and humiliated him for his mediocre grades. It's horrible, I know, and I'm not proud of those years. I haven't thought about it in a long time."

So much for the younger brother in adoration! During his teenage years, Michael seemed to have been not only jealous, but begrudging as well, Loreley thought, settling back better on the cushions. But she didn't know, though, where that young man wanted to go with this.

"And how did your brother react?"

"Peter preferred not to say anything in those situations, it was the only form of respect he had for our parents. He would take the lectures in silence, but when we were alone, he would get angry: ‘Mom and Dad just can't understand that I, unlike you, I don't want to go mouldy inside the walls of a college,’ he said. ‘If you like to study, go right ahead, good for you. I want to create and live in the open air.’ That was the concept he would often repeat after the usual discussion about school."

"So he didn't realize that you were striving to earn high grades just to get back at him."

"No, I don't think so, he never said anything about it."

"Peter didn't want to go to college, so what was he doing?"

"My brother had a flair for art and he painted. And not just on canvas, but on street pavements too, and on the walls of buildings. It's rare, though, for anyone to make a living as an artist right away. Mom and Dad kept telling him that, but he didn't give a damn and never tried to change things. He said that on the one hand he found it convenient because I was there to channel all their expectations, so he could be free to go his own way."

If it was true that Peter had an unhealthy jealousy towards his younger brother as a child, it didn’t mean that he continued to be that way when he was an adult. She must maintain pressure on that point. For the moment all she had understood about him was that he possessed a character which was at odds with the kind of malice and instinct for violence needed to beat a woman to death.

"From what you’ve told me, Peter was very jealous of you as a child. Was it like that in later years too? Did he ever hit you? And, when it came to girls, did he ever shown excesses of anger?"

Loreley watched Michael get up and head to the next room. He disappeared behind a door and reappeared with a bottle of whiskey and a couple of glasses. "Do you want some?" he asked her. "Maybe it would be better to offer a glass of champagne to a lady like you..."

Loreley hesitated, she was not used to drinking hard alcohol on an empty stomach and in her state she couldn’t even afford to. "Yes, thanks."

He didn't ask twice and poured two fingers of whiskey into the glass, then took a sip and sat down again in front of her.

"I knew we were going to get to these questions." He emptied his glass in one gulp and filled it again. "I want to be honest with you, Counselor. You see, Peter was jealous and possessive in his relationships with girls, I must acknowledge that, but the only time he was involved in anything violent because of one of them was to defend her, not to assault her. As for me, I was on the receiving end of only a couple of punches from him; well deserved, by the way. I needed a good lesson, but my father wasn't there, so he took care of it."

"And what had you done wrong?"

Michael looked away. "Peter had found a sachet of cocaine in my drawer. I know what you're thinking, but I wasn't a cocaine addict. It had been given to me by a college classmate of mine; I had put it aside because I was scared to try it, and was waiting until I found the courage to do it. I took a big risk. That guy hoped that I would like it so much I’d become hooked on it and buy it from him, as Peter explained to me later. My brother had saved my ass by getting rid of it and keeping quiet about it with our parents. But that time he couldn't keep his hands to himself... just for my own good, so I’d learn my lesson."

"Did it end there?"

"Yes, of course. That's why I didn't want Mom to take part in this conversation, I couldn't have been so honest. You don’t know her."

"I already have a vague idea."

"Multiply that vague idea by at least three."

Loreley nodded."Let's go back to Peter."

"I have nothing more to tell you about him. Soon after that, he met Lindsay and left home."

"How was the relationship between them?"

"As far as I know, good. Some arguments, yes... who doesn't have them? Certainly, he seemed a little tense lately, but I think it was for financial reasons."

"Was there someone else buzzing around Lindsay?"

Michael moved around in his chair. "I don't think so, but she was very reserved and didn’t talk about herself much. She never seemed to me like the kind who lets herself be carried away with passion."

Loreley saw him look at the pendulum clock on the wall, an antique piece, and realized it was time to take her leave.

She got up off the sofa. "Well, at this point I’ll get out of your hair. Thank you for your time." She took her handbag and jacket and left.

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