Page 110 of Savage Justice
“I am not sure how closely you follow news items in Poland. I fear this latest chapter has not made the international bulletins.” He flicks open a document holder he brought with him and retrieves a newspaper. “Yesterday’s Gazeta Wyborcza,” he explains, laying the paper out on the table and shoving it towards Ethan. “You will see Borys has made the front page.”
The grainy image of Borys Glodowski graces the lower section of the page, but the headline and story are all in Polish. Ethan hands the newspaper to Rome.
“He’s dead,” Rome announces, scanning the closely typed print. “It says here he was found hanging in his cell in Wronki jail. Foul play is not suspected, though Glodowski is known to have made enemies in the Middle East.”
Ethan’s steady gaze meets that of Kristian. “The Saudis killed him?”
Kristian shrugs. “It is early days. Naturally, the Sluzba Wiezienna are investigating.”
“The prison authority in Poland,” Rome puts in helpfully.
Ethan probes further. “What do you think happened, Kristian? Was he suicidal?”
Kaminski shakes his head. “I feel confident in saying my brother-in-law possessed a highly developed sense of self-preservation. Would you not agree, Miss Lowe?”
Molly jumps in her seat, clearly caught off guard to be directly addressed. “Oh, er, yes. Yes, probably. I mean, I don’t know…”
Kaminski continues. “The Saudis have their money back, but of course there is always simple revenge as a possible motive.”
“Perhaps.” Ethan’s gaze never wavers, “though the sheikh has been silent since his embarrassing error in judgement was exposed. Still, his reputation was badly compromised, and he could have been smarting from that.”
Kaminski affects a sad demeanour. It fools no one. “Alas, Borys made many enemies. We shall never know for certain.”
“If you’re suggesting that I somehow orchestrated this, then you are mistaken. If I’d wanted him dead, that could have been achieved weeks earlier. As you said, we were in the vicinity.”
“Quite so. And may I say, that was an excellent piece of marksmanship. My compliments to your assassin.”
His gaze may have flicked my way, I can’t be sure.
“You will be pleased to know he never walked again after that, and I gather the doctors informed him that there was little prospect of him ever doing so other than on crutches. Such a tragedy.”
Ethan rests his elbows on the table and steeples his fingers in front of him. “Why did you come all this way, Kristian, just to tell me about this? Why not simply send the newspaper cutting by email?”
“I felt the news was better delivered face to face. I wanted to be certain there was no remaining misunderstanding between us, Ethan.”
“Misunderstanding?”
“Indeed. I appreciate that you had felt short-changed by our previous bargain. I gave my word, and you felt I had broken it. You had good reason, and I have told you I regret what happened. I felt obligated to make matters right, and I trust you will agree that the debt has now been paid.”
Ethan is silent for a few moments, digesting what isn’t said but clearly implied. Then, “I see.” He leans back. “How has your sister taken this news?”
Kristian shrugs. “She is distraught, naturally. She will get over it.”
“Does she know that you had her husband killed?”
He never wavers. Never turns a hair. “As I said, she will get over it. We do what we have to do, Mr Savage, and life goes on.”
“I suppose it does. Thank you for your diligence in this matter.” He starts to get to his feet. “One of my men will see you to your helicopter.”
Kristian isn’t budging just yet. “There just remains the issue of my five point seven million euros.”
Ethan settles back down. “How so?”
“Now that the loose ends have been almost all addressed, I would appreciate the return of the money I was obliged to part with in order to placate Sheikh Mustafa.”
“I don’t think so.”
“It’s a considerable sum of money, Mr Savage. You have it, and it rightfully belongs to me.”