Читать книгу The Sandman онлайн

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‘I want my money back, with interest,’ the bearded man repeats.

‘Kiskoa korkoa,’ the other man replies, spitting blood on the snow.

A thickset woman in her sixties is leaning against a blue box of sand for the steps. The tip of her cigarette glows, lighting up her puffy face.

The man with the bottle backs in beneath the snow-covered branches of the big tree. The other man stumbles after him. The knife blade flashes as he stabs with it. The bearded man moves backwards, waving the bottle and hitting the other man in the head. The bottle breaks and green glass flies around the fur hat. Joona has an impulse to reach for his pistol, even though he knows it’s locked away in the gun cabinet.

The man with the knife stumbles but manages to stay on his feet. The other is holding the jagged remains of the bottle.

There’s a scream. Joona jumps over the piled-up snow and ice from the gutters.

The bearded man slips on something and falls flat on his back. He’s fumbling with his hand on the railings at the top of the steps.