“Iryssa, you must find the man who is killing me through your hands, and you must take revenge for this murder”, I say, my words distinctly audible now
Iryssa sobs.
“Promise, Iryssa”, I tell her
She nods again
“Say it, Iryssa. I promise”, I insist
“I promise”, she says, faintly at first
Then again.
“I promise. I will revenge you, I promise”, she repeats, the words not faint now, but strong, meaningful, loaded with hatred and pain and love of me.
Now I can sleep in peace.
Chapter 29 -Iris
As I left the building I kept walking as if nothing had happened. Reality is the story we choose to believe, is it not? If one walks with a leisurely pace and trusts the day to be an ordinary one, why would things be any different from what one makes-believe? This is what I told myself as I walked to the library, to the rare book section of course, as I would have in any other day. The book would be there now, I knew it. What would it tell me today? I cringed as I asked myself the question, but then I stopped wondering, and I walked forward, empty headed, simply focusing on the act of walking. Right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot. It seemed as a new task, strange and complex, one that required dedication. Somebody opened the library’s door for me. Somebody asked me if I needed help finding a book. No, I knew where the book was. I opened it, and saw my face.
My picture was besides Otto Hermes portrait. The images were blurred, we were wearing clothing from another century, but it was us. I stared at the page, mesmerized. ‘Iryssa Celata and Ricco Ermete’, read the caption.
I began reading the text frantically.
The premature death of Cesar Mercury was a loss for humanity as a whole, and for the chemical sciences to which this ingenious man gave such great contributions!
I skipped some lines.
Ricco Ermete astutely and treacherously induced his lover, Iryssa Celata, to commit the bloody crime which ended the life of Cesar Mercury. Ricco Ermete, an impostor and a murderer, handed Iryssa mercury cyanide and convinced her it was a magic potion to erase the love of her from Cersar’s heart. Realizing the fraud, Iryssa Celata denounced herself, praying to receive the same death she gave to Cesar Mercury. Iryssa Celata was however spared because ignorance, rather than cruel intents, had driven her actions. Iryssa Celata was secluded in an insane asylum, which resounded day and night with her gruesome curses and her hateful promises of eternal revenge against Ricco Ermete. Sometimes she would look into emptiness as she walked aimlessly in the hallways, and she would smile at invisible ghosts, her face beautiful for a moment, her lips blossoming with words of love and her delicate hands caressing empty space. ‘Our love has no boundaries’, her whispers echoed in the desolate whiteness of the rooms.
I felt I could not move, but my eyes kept sliding along the lines.
Oh reader, you to whom this book is speaking, do you know these people? Through you they can live again, you own their life and death.
Oh reader, was it you who wrote their story or were you part of a plot that always was and always will be?
My body felt heavy, sank by its own weight before turning thin, inconsistent, as if I never existed. Then all fell into darkness.
“Miss, are you all right?”, I heard a female voice ask
“Oh, but did we just give you an empty volume?”, she asked after a pause
I began leafing through the pages. They were blank, every single one of them.
“Sorry about this”, the voice spoke again.
I collected my belongings and walked to the police station.
The trial
The prosecuting attorney
“Ladies and gentlemen, Iris Celati is a dangerous and psychotic criminal, who killed Otto Hermes in cold blood after carefully planning his murder!”
Iris Celati confessed having poured down Otto Hermes throat mercury cyanide, which is the very substance that has been found in his dead body. Iris Celati told the police that she had defended herself from physical assault and that Otto Hermes had been forcing her to drink orange juice when they were in the lab. Does this seem like a reasonable accusation to you? Who would try to harm somebody by pouring orange juice down the person’s throat? This is outrageous! Ridiculous! Iris Celati said that the fight took place in the lab, but Otto Hermes body was found in his apartment, dressed in clothing from the 18th century! Who would dress in costume a man after killing him? Of course only a deeply deranged person who had planned the murder, and lied about the facts to…”
The door opens abruptly, cutting the attorney’s sentence in mid-air.
A police officer says, “Your honour, there is further evidence to be examined”.
Behind him come two other policemen, with a handcuffed man between them. The room is silent, then a murmur rises, first soft, then loud.
“Silence, please!”, dictates the judge, pounding his hammer.
“We found him in his apartment”, says the first policeman indicating the handcuffed man, “he was packing his belongings in great rush. We retrieved these lab books, they must belong to Iris Celati, her name is on the first page”.
The policeman displays my lab books as a trophy and brings them to the judge. The judge examines them for a moment, then asks the policeman to hand them to me.
“Do you recognize these lab books?”, he asks me
“I do”, I say
“Are they your lab books?”, he continues
“Yes”, I confirm
“Do you recognize the handcuffed man standing at the door?”, he asks
“Yes. He is Otto Hermes, and I killed him”, I say
“I believe you on the man’s identity, not on the fact you killed him”, the judge tells me with the flash of a smirk that immediately disappears
Hushed voices swarm along the room.
The first policeman speaks again.
“We found potent hallucinogens in the apartment in which Otto Hermes lives. Our colleagues from Germany called us few hours ago to inform us that this man is researched there. He is accused of drugging people with the purpose of causing them to have hallucinations. There is evidence that he uses this method to manipulate people and induce them to commit crimes of different nature while they are not lucid. So far he has always pulled it off, but his last victim has been able to prove his innocence with the help of a doctor who detected the presence of hallucinogens in the man’s brain after he had been arrested”
“Which crimes did Otto Hermes want his victims to commit?”, asks the judge
“He makes them steal scientific discoveries on his behalf, then he appropriates the discoveries as if they were his and sells the information to corporations, to government institutions even”, the policeman says
The judge arches his brows.
“How did the German policeman link the presence of hallucinogens in the blood of the man they arrested to Otto Hermes illegal activities?”, he asks
“Otto Hermes has the habit of moving from place to place. Before being in Germany he was in Italy, disguised under the name of Ricco Ermete, and there he made the mistake that gave him away as soon as the Germans started their investigations. Otto Hermes signature is unmistakable because wherever he goes he uses the same hallucinogens. In Italy he met Iryssa, the wife and partner in science of the world-famous chemist Cesare Mercurio. He befriended her and then lured her into an illicit relationship, with the purpose of stealing the chemist’s discoveries. One day Otto Hermes gave her a bottle of wine as a gift, and the woman opened it the same night she received it to drink it with her husband. The next morning the maid found Iryssa and her husband lying unconscious on the floor, and few hours later Cesare Mercurio died, killed by the potent dose of hallucinogens in the bottle. The death of Cesare Mercurio was likely a glitch, Otto Hermes intended to drug Iryssa so that she could be manipulated into subtracting confidential data from her husband. Iryssa survived her husband and when she understood
what had happened she went crazy”
The judge shakes his head.
“She is currently withheld in a psychiatric hospital”, the policeman continues
“If Otto Hermes is alive, who is the man who was found dead in his apartment?”, the judge asks
“A man who had a striking resemblance with him and that he overdosed with the usual hallucinogens. Otto Hermes has gone too far with his crimes and felt his end was getting close, so he probably tried to find an easy way out by staging his own death”, the policeman speculates
“It is likely that Iris Celati was drugged too then. This would explain her apparent insanity…”, the judge says pensively, observing me as if he could ponder the truthfulness of his judgment just by looking at my face
“I wouldn’t be surprised. All hints in this direction”, the policeman replies
The judge embraces the court with a broad gaze, then pauses his eyes on me.
“There seems to be no limit to the perversity of the human mind”, he comments, shaking his head sadly
He is silent for a moment, the court waits.
“Given the new evidence, I declare Iris Celati innocent. The case against her is closed. Iris Celati is clearly a victim, not a criminal. Otto Hermes shall be retained and prosecuted for murder, illicit drug use and fraud”, the judge concludes.
The hammer of justice pounds.
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The person they’ve called Iris Celati walks away from the court. Don’t ask me if I am Iris Celati, I can’t really tell you. I simply don’t know. Am I Iris or Iryssa? Or again someone else? Is anything truly real?
I am about to leave the palace of justice, but I feel compelled to turn around one last times for reasons I cannot define. And there, on top of a stairwell, I see Cesare Mercurio…or perhaps it is Cesar Mercury I am seeing? His clothing belong to another century. He smiles at me. I make a move towards my lover’s figure, but when I blink my eyes suddenly I see somebody else walking down the stairwell. Did I imagine everything, even this? I leap up the stairs, breathless. I don’t want to lose Cesare, or Cesar or whoever that shadow was.
And I haven’t.
In a corner I find a small package, which I recognize immediately. I open it and feel my necklace and his ring in it, even before I see them. I roll them between my fingers for a while. Then I close the necklace on the back of my neck and slide the ring on my annular.
I know he’s there.
“Our love has no boundaries”, I say
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