Walter Kist & the Seven Whorls Chapter 13

“Hello, Walter,” Irma purred, as Kist stepped into the secret room.

"Irma,” Kist said calmly.

“Surprised?”

“Yes, but delightfully so.” Maurice Chevalier on his game.

"Shut the door, Walter,” Irma said coolly, pointing the pistol at him. “And have a seat. Just there.” She indicated the foot of the cot.

Kist threw me a quick smile as he sat down. I saw him glance almost imperceptibly at the ribbon on my ankles and just as imperceptibly I moved my fingers on the oak armrests to let him know my hands were free.

As Irma took her seat at the head of the cot, I quietly put my hands behind me in hopes she would forget they were no longer tied.

“I have something for you, Irma,” Kist said.

“How did you even know I’d be here?”

“I didn’t. I was going to visit you on the island.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“It’s true. Thought we’d go for high tea.”

“You ran out on me, Walter.”

"No, Irma, our business was done the day you paid me at the Empress, remember? And then you went on a cruise with your husband.”

"But I was in love with you. And you with me…or so you said.”

"Did I?”

“Don’t play games with me, Walter.”

“Listen. I’m going to get your gift out of my backpack, okay?”

"Okay. But no funny business.” She tightened her grip on the pistol as he opened his backpack and slowly extracted a small book. He held it out to her. Scrawled in his handwriting across the cover were the words: The Chakra Shots. With her gun firmly aimed at him, she leaned forward and squinted at it.

“The chalk raw shots. What’s that?”

“Well, chakras are centers of energy in your body.” He quickly pointed out the seven centers on his own body. Irma frowned. “And each centre corresponds to certain emotions and has spiritual attributes.” Her brow furrowed. “Also each centre has a colour.”

"A colour?” she said, perking up. “What sort of colour?”

“For instance, the heart centre is represented by the colour green. In Europe, I was matching drinks with centers: colour of drink corresponding to colour of centre. Follow?”

“No.”

“Here.” Like a kindergarten teacher in front of his class Kist held the book up and turned the pages for us to see. He stopped at a few photos of a chess game.

It was hard to see in the dim light but one photo looked like Kist himself at an outdoor chess table . The pieces were shot glasses filled with either clear or green liquid.

"Absinthe is the spirit in these glasses.”

"What did you write there, Walter?” Irma demanded.

Kist turned the book around and read his notes to us: “They say chess is a war game. And that absinthe makes people crazy. You could make a case for the opposite: chess seems to have driven a few people mad and absinthe has been blamed for murder. In fact, murder is the reason it was banned in the early twentieth century in most European countries. It is said that some guy drank too much absinthe and killed his family and so it was forbidden from then on. But many believed the fault did not lie with the drink, so illegal production of the Green Fairy began and has continued to this day.”

“The Green Fairy?”

“Another name for absinthe,” Kist answered.

“So, what chalk raw is green again?”

“Heart.” He pointed at Irma’s heart. “Green like peridot and jade. Green as the light at the end of Daisy’s dock.” He shot me a quick look.

“You’re in love with this girl, aren’t you, Walter?”

“I love everyone, Irma.”

“That sounds like bullshit.”

“Yeah, I guess it does. Listen, I brought you some of the Green Fairy.” He pointed at his backpack. “May I?” Irma gave a quick nod then steadied her gun on him.

“In Switzerland, absinthe is still illegal so they make Clandestine. Now let me show you the magic of the Green Fairy.” Kist, the magician.

He performed the water-and-sugar-cube trick with our water glasses and his slotted spoon. Irma marveled as the spirit changed from translucent emerald to pale green pearl. “This is called the louche.” Kist, the alchemist.

“You know,” Irma said, “that would make a fabulous eyeshadow duo. One shadow is called Louche, that’s the highlighter. And the other is called Green Fairy. I can picture a whole line of cosmetics based on this.”

“I like that idea, Irma.”

*

Thank you to my excellent model/actor Tom Henry.

And thanks for reading!