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2 July, 8:45 AM “Sorry about your head,” said the woman. She was tall, slim – like most of the women around here. Never mind the French;...

2 July, 8:45 AM, Czernograd, “The Czernograd Gazette” newsroom When in need, he turned to every journalist’s best friend: Google. Maciar...

2 July, 8:30 AM When Jake came to it and opened his eyes, he realised three things, all in a quick succession: he wasn’t in Kansas...

1 July, 5:15 MP, Czernograd, Hotel Casino It all started with a noise outside Jake’s door. And it all finished with a noise outside...

1 July, 3:45 PM, Czernograd, the Government Quarter He was tall – taller – at about 5 feet 2 or 3 inches, and thick-set, with strong...

1 July, 1:30 PM, Czernograd, Pansky Station Pansky Station had been built over a century ago in a style derisively known as “railway...

1 July, 12:15 PM, Czernograd, 44 Rimsky Street Palec listened to them, sunk in his chair, right hand on the chin, seemingly absorbed by...

1 July, 12:10 PM, “The Czernograd Gazette” newsroom Igor spent the morning doing the work he was actually paid to do, while thinking all...

1 July, 12:00 noon, Czernograd, 44 Rimsky Street Halszka would have liked to think that it was her who had the first break, but it was...

1 July, 10:30 AM, Czernograd, Hotel Casino A different day, a different weather outside the window, and a different cop outside his room....

1 July, 9:00 AM, “The Czernograd Gazette” newsroom There was another message on his desk, and this time he suspected the meeting would...

30 June, 5:10 PM, Czernograd, Hotel Casino There is the early local news on the TV halfway through the bulletin, a half empty can of Coke...

30 June, 2:45 PM, Czernograd, Police Station Number 5 Maciejewicz was there, behind his desk, as if he has not moved more than a few...

30 June, 2:00 PM, Czernograd, 44 Rimsky Street When Halszka got back to the office from a quick lunch, there was an email sitting at the...

30 June, 1:00 PM, Czernograd, the Surovy District, Fitz’s Fritz’s was a little dive, a block away from the riverfront, south of the...

30 June, 12:45 PM, Stare Duszki Jake and Marina retraced their way back to the village, followed this time all the way by low clouds....

30 June, 12:30 PM, “The Czernograd Gazette” newsroom His phone went off. The newsroom, an open plan office nightmare like a battery farm...

30 June, 8:30 AM, Czernograd, the Niski district He woke up and he didn’t know where he was. It wasn’t his hotel room. This one was...

29 June, midnight, Czernograd, the Prazsky Park district After they left the club –he still did not know if the place had a name and he...

29 June, 10:00 PM, Czernograd, the Wolski district He glanced at his watch. It was now just past 10 and over an hour into the night. The...

29 June, 7:30 PM, Czernograd, the Old City After she arrived at his room, she gave him a critical look over. Head to feet and then back...

29 June, 4:45 PM, Czernograd, the Kranberg district He was in Kranberg within half an hour. The traffic has been particularly heavy at...

29 June, 3:12 PM , Czernograd, Hotel Casino With the daylight-saving time taken into consideration, it was a seven-hour difference...

29 June, 10:15 AM, Czernograd, Hotel Casino “About last night...” he started. “Sorry about all the spooky stuff,” Marina said. “Remember,...

Jamie: “So all that stuff about mirrors, that’s bullshit?” Natasha: “Yep.” Jamie: “And garlic?” Natasha: “That too.” Jamie: (laughing)...

28 June, 8:10 PM, near Spisz The night sky was clear, and thousands of stars came out, strewn across the firmament like fluorescent sand....

28 June, 7:07 PM, “The Czernograd Gazette” newsroom His mobile phone was ringing. “Hello,” he picked it up. The incoming number was...

28 June, 4:45 PM, near Spisz He survived the whirlwind of introductions and now was trying to survive the whirlwind of hospitality. He...

28 June, 2:15 PM, “The Czernograd Gazette” newsroom When he got back to the office there was a message pinned with sticky tape to his...

28 June, 1:30 PM, near Spisz The tabor spread out in an empty field, off the beaten track, literally, with all the vehicles forming a...

28 June, 1:15 PM, “The Czernograd Gazette” newsroom Gawenda called him back just as he was about to sneak out to pick up a kebab for...

28 June, 11:10 AM, Stare Duszki “This is it, I guess.” They were standing on a gentle grassy slope, not far from the edge of the water....

28 June, 11:00 AM, Czernograd, 44 Rimsky Street Halszka Saint-Germain-Bukowski leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes and ran her hand...

28 June, 9:30 AM, “The Czernograd Gazette” newsroom When they finally arrived via email, the statements, one from the police, the other...

“The first written mention of Ruthenian Gypsies appears in ‘The Chronicles of the Princes of Czernograd’, a manuscript written down the...

27 June, 3:00 PM, Czernograd, Hotel Casino On the way back to the hotel from lunch Jake thought he was being followed. He could have...

27 June, 1:20 PM, “The Czernograd Gazette” newsroom Googling Mathias Maciar, perhaps unsurprisingly, did not return any useful...

27 June, 1:10 PM, Czernograd, Krakovska Avenue “The ashes...” He looked up from his plate. He has again chosen a safe option: spicy...

27 June, 12:35 PM, “The Czernograd Gazette” newsroom Igor only started firing up after the fourth coffee of the day, brought up in a tall...

“If you consider travelling with children, be advised that a much shorter trip to the Universal’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter at...

26 June, 4:00 PM, “The Czernograd Gazette” newsroom “...The police are continuing their investigations and are expected to issue a...

26 June, 12:00 PM, Czernograd, Old Market Square Jake did not tell Marina that someone got into his hotel room the previous night and...

26 June, 10:00 AM, Czernograd, Police Station Number 5 Marina waited for him downstairs in the lobby at 10 o’clock as agreed, reading a...

26 June, 7:05 AM, Czernograd, the Rawicz district The phone kept ringing and Igor Svoboda, suspended somewhere in the netherworld between...

25 June, 7:00 PM, Czernograd, the Old Town “I would recommend pracuszki,” she said. “It’s a local speciality, made from sheep liver and...

25 June, 6:00 PM, Czernograd, Hotel Casino The hotel was a decent old building, renovated sometime recently to take it up to the standard...

25 June, 2:30 PM, Czernograd International Airport The sky over Czernograd was the colour of a dirty linen tablecloth when Jake finally...

25 June, 2:10 PM, Czernograd International Airport “What is in the container?” Jake’s suitcase was lying open, like a gutted whale, its...

25 June, 1:40 PM, over eastern Slovakia The little boy sitting behind him kept kicking the back of his seat. Jake was having problems...

25 June, 2:40 PM, Czernograd International Airport Jake Voynich knew this was a bad start to his homecoming when within the space of half...