Barbara Nadel [Nadel - The House of Four

Copyright 2017 Barbara Nadel

The right of Barbara Nadel to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First published in Great Britain in 2017

by HEADLINE PUBLISHING GROUP

First published as an ebook in Great Britain in 2017

by HEADLINE PUBLISHING GROUP

Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.

All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library

eISBN: 978 1 4722 3466 7

Cover images: house Vehbi Koca/Alamy Stock Photo; sky STILLFX/Shutterstock; texture Alex Staroseltsev/Shutterstock

Cover by craigfraserdesign.com

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Contents

Trained as an actress, Barbara Nadel used to work in mental health services. Born in the East End of London, she now writes full time and has been a visitor to Turkey for over twenty years. She received the Crime Writers Association Silver Dagger for her novel DEADLY WEB, and the Swedish Flintax Prize for historical crime fiction for her first Francis Hancock novel, LAST RIGHTS.

To find out more, follow Barbara on Twitter @BarbaraNadel

Inspector etin kmen is one of detective fictions most likeable investigators, despite his grumpy and unsociable character. Or perhaps because of it we seem to like our detectives a little grouchy: think of him as the Morse of Istanbul Daily Telegraph

Intelligent and captivating The Sunday Times

Fascinating... Inter-gang drug war and racial prejudice are only two of the ingredients stirred into the incendiary mix Good Book Guide

Nadels evocation of the shady underbelly of modern Turkey is one of the perennial joys of crime fiction Mail on Sunday

Impeccable mystery plotting, exotic and atmospheric Guardian

The Inspector kmen Series

Belshazzars Daughter

A Chemical Prison

Arabesk

Deep Waters

Harem

Petrified

Deadly Web

Dance with Death

A Passion for Killing

Pretty Dead Things

River of the Dead

Death by Design

A Noble Killing

Dead of Night

Deadline

Body Count

Land of the Blind

On the Bone

The House of Four

The Hancock Series

Last Rights

After the Mourning

Ashes to Ashes

Sure and Certain Death

The Hakim and Arnold Series

A Private Business

An Act of Kindness

Poisoned Ground

Enough Rope

Everyone in the Istanbul neighbourhood of Moda knows the Devils House. A crumbling Ottoman mansion, and once the home of a princess, it is a place associated with ill fortune.

The princesss four children, now in old age, still live in separate apartments on different floors and are rumoured never to speak to each other. Then one of them is found dead, stabbed through the heart, and it is discovered that the other three siblings have met an identical fate. There is no sign of forced entry or burglary, and all evidence must be gained from letters and diaries, but as Inspector kmen digs into their past it becomes clear they have been harbouring a secret...

Meanwhile a young couple are arrested for a series of seemingly random killings on the streets of Istanbul. They claim to have been squatting in the Devils House. But this fiendish mystery is far from over and it will take Inspector kmen to the darkest and most devilish depths of this ancient city.

This book is dedicated to the memory
of Professor Josef Vanek (18181889).
Physicist, revolutionary and magician
to Sultan Abdlmecid I of Turkey.

Police:

Inspector Cetin kmen middle-aged Istanbul detective

Inspector Mehmet Sleyman Istanbul detective and kmens protege

Commissioner Hrrem Teker kmen and Sleymans boss

Sergeant Kerim Grsel kmens sergeant

Sergeant mer Mungun Sleymans sergeant

Dr Arto Sarkissian police pathologist an ethnic Armenian

Constable Barn Demirta traffic officer also linguist

Inspector Ahmet Cng organised crime detective

Sergeant Deniz Akgunduz organised crime officer

Turgut Zana technical officer

Others:

Fatma kmen Cetins wife

Gonca ekerolu Sleymans mistress a gypsy

Selin nce a cleaner at the Devils House

Bilal nce Selins husband

Ali Baykal works in the Grand Bazaar

Bar ekerolu Goncas cousin

Saira ymen tram passenger

Elif Byk homeless heroin addict

Ali Erbil Elifs boyfriend, also a homeless addict

Yiannis Apion an Istanbul Greek

Father Anatoli Ralli a Greek priest

Marina Ralli his wife

Sami Nasi a stage magician

Rya Samis assistant

Hasan Dum a gypsy gangster

Dr Aksu a psychiatrist

Rauf Karadeniz a retired lawyer

Erdal Bey practising lawyer

Aslan Gerontas mentally ill street boy

Gila Saban witness

Richard Oates British witness

Fatima, Ycel, Kanat and Kemal Rudolfolu the four residents of the Devils House

Another day, another torment. The old woman was going mad and had lately taken to following her around the house talking nonsense at her. Cleaning the toilets was bad enough without having her raving on about voices in the walls. But a job was a job, and as Bilal always said, maybe Fatima Hanm would leave her something when she died. Shed told him he was living in a fantasy if he thought that. The old witch was mean as well as wicked.

Selin opened the apartment door and went inside. Most of her employers possessions made her shudder anyway. Who would want massive faded sofas stuffed with ancient horsehair? She actually hoped they werent going to come her way when Fatima Hanm died. Although she did like the old womans dressing table, which was made entirely of gilded glass. She had a notion it was French, although it was more likely German because that was where Fatima Hanms father had been born.

Mercifully the apartment was quiet, which meant that Fatima Hanm was probably still asleep. Selin went straight to the kitchen and put the kettle on for tea. As usual, every surface was covered with the detritus the old woman left in her wake whenever she tried to cater for herself. Cheese, uncovered by the sink, a half-sliced onion, broken biscuits scattered on the floor and round the waste bin. What she really needed was live-in help, but that wasnt going to happen. No one in their right mind would actually want to sleep in that awful rotting building. It was bad enough visiting almost every day.

Waiting for the kettle to boil, Selin had a cigarette. Bilal had forbidden smoking ever since hed become a member of the AK Party, and so she had to get her cigarettes in where she could. The old woman didnt mind. In fact she sometimes smoked too. It felt good to have a quiet smoke after a whole weekend of abstinence. Bilal had made them all go to a party rally, even the kids, and Selin had been required to be on her best behaviour. Surrounded by pious, covered women, shed felt completely out of her depth. Bilal reckoned it was because she wasnt covered. She knew he wanted her to cover, but she wasnt going to do it. She hated covering.