Butcher of Belgrade

by Nick Carter

  I plucked Wilhelmina from inside my jacket. No wonder Richter had never parted with a radio he didn't play. The satellite monitor was inside the radio's case. Even if it were taken apart, the device would look like part of the circuitry to anyone other than an expert.

  Stepping around the end of the luggage cart, I said, "Thanks for arranging the meeting, Eva."

  Richter cursed.

  "I'll take the radio, Horst. I assume you prefer that name since you're using it now. After I have the radio in my hands, we'll walk over and talk to some policemen who'd like to get to know you, too."

  His friends stuck with him to the bitter end. Eva swung her purse and hit my gunhand and Mr. Cheerful jumped me.

  I shot the stocky man as we fell. I was in too much of a hurry to wrestle with him.

  He was gasping as I threw his weight off me and got to my feet again. He didn't look surprised that I'd pulled the trigger of the Luger. He had expected it when he sprang for me, I thought. He was just trying to give Richter time to make a break.

  The ex-Nazi had taken advantage of the opportunity. He was running hard for the door of the station, knocking people aside as he went.

  Eva Schmidt ran, too. When she saw that I'd put a bullet in the man who'd jumped me, she turned and lost herself in the crowd. She was heading in the direction of the train, I noticed, but I didn't really care what happened to her.

  I raced after Hans Richter.

  When he got to the doorway of the big station, he turned. Now he held a Mauser Parabellum in one hand and the radio in his other. He aimed the automatic at my head and fired. The shot resounded along the platform, narrowly missing my left temple. A couple of women screamed. A tall elderly man behind me slumped to the ground — the slug had hit him in his shoulder. There were more screams. As Richter turned and ran into the station, I pulled my Luger, aimed, and fired. Just then he changed his course, and I missed him.

  There was no time to see where Ursula and the policemen were. I ran into the station after Richter. There were hundreds of people inside and Richter was cunningly moving among them toward the far doorways that led to the street. I jammed Wilhelmina into my pocket and increased my speed. People were standing and staring, and some were trying to get out of our way. Richter knocked a woman down and kept going. I was gaining, though, and before he managed to reach the doors, I caught him with a shoestring tackle.

  Richter hit the floor hard, but he did not lose either the gun or the radio. He turned to blow my head off, but I caught his gunhand and pushed it away. The Mauser roared in the big room, and the slug smashed into the high ceiling. There was more screaming and yelling, and a stampede to get away from the action.

  We rolled over twice, each trying for control. Our arms were straining for possession of the gun. It fired again, and a window in a front door shattered. I punched a savage fist into Richter's square face, and his grip weakened on the gun. It fell from his grasp with a quick twist of my arm.

  Richter swore, swung his balled-up fist viciously at my head, and connected. I felt the crunching impact beside my ear and I fell backward to the floor. In that instant, Richter was up and reaching for the Mauser.

  He retrieved the gun before I could get to him, and when he turned back to me, there was a slight grin on his face. I flicked Hugo down into my palm as he leveled the Mauser at my head. But neither the gun nor the stiletto struck.

  "Halten sie! Genug!" It was Ursula.

  Richter turned from me and saw Ursula, very grim, pointing the Webley at his back. She was flanked on either side by the two Yugoslav secret policemen in plain clothes. Each man held a stubby revolver aimed at Richter.

  "Please put the gun down," the one on Ursula's right ordered.

  Richter grunted, dropped the Mauser, and glanced back at me. "Damn you," he said quietly in English.

  I walked over to him and yanked the radio from his hand. The Yugoslavs nodded to me and grabbed his arms.

  "We will take him to the customs room for a brief interrogation before moving him to headquarters," the Yugoslav who had spoken before said to Ursula.

  I wanted to get that radio out of there. "I must go to the train for a bag," I said. "I'll be right back."

  The same Yugoslav turned to me. "No, please. The train will be held. Come with us first."

  He did not seem amenable to argument. "All right," I said as I followed them reluctantly into the room.

  It was a rather small room with only a desk and three straight chairs. There was only one window that opened onto the street. It looked stark.

  As we stepped into the room, Ursula spoke to the Yugoslav who had insisted I accompany them.

  "Oh, his bag!" she exclaimed. "It is on the platform. I will get it."

  "Very well," the policeman agreed.

  Ursula had just disappeared and closed the door behind her when Richter went into action again. The policemen were still holding his arms. The one who had not yet spoken had taken the radio from me, much to my regret, and had placed it on the desk before us. He was now reaching under his jacket for a pair of handcuffs, but Richter suddenly and quite violently broke free from the other Yugoslav, and sent an elbow into his face. The policeman stumbled backwards and fell heavily to the floor while Richter shoved the other one into me. The man stumbled against me, and I had to catch him to keep him from hitting the floor.

  Richter was slugging the first officer and reaching for his gun. I went for Wilhelmina while the man who had hit me tried to regain his balance. Then Richter emerged with the snub-nosed revolver, whirled, and fired at me. I dived for the side of the desk, and he missed.

  The policeman who had fallen against me now was going for his gun. Richter fired a shot at him and hit him full in the chest. The man was picked up off his feet and shoved backwards from the sudden impact. His eyes reflected the surprise of sudden death as he crashed against a wall and then slid to the floor.

  Richter moved quickly around the desk, grabbing the radio on the way, and made a run for the window. I fired quickly from my cover and grazed his shoulder. He whirled and returned fire. Then he saw the other policeman start for him. He fired again, hitting this one in the abdomen, and the policeman fell heavily on the desk top. Richter then turned and dove through the window, shattering the glass in a fusillade of shards. I fired once more after him as he disappeared, but I did not hit him.

  Just then Ursula came through the door.

  "He broke away from us," I said. "Come on." I rushed out the door past curious onlookers and headed across the station to the front doorways. Ursula was right behind me.

  When I reached the end of the building, I saw that Richter was gone. I saw a black car, moving quickly away from the area, a block down the street, but there was no way of knowing whether it was Richter.

  "The next time I see Mr. Richter," Ursula said grimly, "I'm going to put a bullet in his head and ask questions later."

  At that moment, the only thing I could think of was the radio that Richter had grabbed as he had escaped. I'd had the monitor in my possession momentarily, but now it was lost to me again. Maybe for good.

  Then I remembered Eva.

  Nine

  "We're after the same man," I said to Ursula.

  She looked at me quizzically as I hurried with her back to the station entrance. "What do you mean, Nick?"

  "There isn't much time to explain now. Richter is involved in big-time theft, and he has stolen something very valuable to my government in order to sell it to the Communists. That's why he was on the Orient Express."

  I could hear the sound of European police sirens as we rushed through the station. There was a crowd around the room where the police had tried to detain Richter. Outside, the Orient Express was getting ready to pull out.

  "I'm going to leave you here, Ursula. Tell the police nothing of my involvement if you can avoid it. Check in at the Majestic Hotel at Obilicev Venac 28, and I'll meet you there later. Meanwhile, check the hotels and try to locate Richter. If you do f
ind him, don't try to take him, wait for me."

  "When will I see you again?" she asked. "Where are you going now, Nick?"

  "There's somebody on that train who might be able to tell us where to find Richter," I said. "So I'm going back aboard. I hope to get back to you later today or early tomorrow."

  She smiled. "I am glad our work will keep us together for a while," she said. "Good luck until I see you."

  "Same to you," I said.

  I reached the platform just as the train was pulling away, and hopped aboard. Blonde and lovely Ursula waved from the doorway, and then she turned to greet the uniformed Yugoslav police.

  In just moments the train had cleared the station, and was gliding back out into the Yugoslav countryside. While in Belgrade, the train had taken on a dining car, which was now the last car on the train, behind the sleepers. That made one more place where I would have to look for Eva Schmidt, and it was where I found her. She had just ordered breakfast when I approached her table.

  "I ought to put a bullet in you right here," I said. "But I'm going to give you one last chance. Get up and go to your compartment. I'll be right behind you. And no tricks this time. You try something like the last time, and I'll kill you without further discussion."

  She hesitated a moment. Then she rose and walked down the aisle of the dining car. I dropped a few bills onto her table for the waiter and followed. Soon we stood before the door of her compartment in Voiture 5.

  "In," I ordered.

  She unlocked the door. We entered, and I locked it behind us. "Now, what would you like to know?" she asked acidly.

  "How to find your lover."

  She smiled a hard smile, and ran a hand through her dark hair. "That might be very difficult now. Hans will conclude his sale very shortly, and then he will be a very wealthy man. He will change his identity again and continue to elude the fools who harass him." She laughed. "And we can thank your government for all of it."

  I did not like to be laughed at, nor to be called a fool. "You have a way of pressing your luck," I told her. "Where is Richter staying in Belgrade?"

  Eva put a smile on her face. She began to disrobe while I spoke to her. I didn't know what she expected to accomplish, but she was soon down to her pants and bra. She had a ripe, full figure.

  "If I give you that information, I would take the challenge from your job," she told me.

  She locked her eyes on mine as she removed the bra and exposed her breasts.

  "You can also be nice and tell me where Topcon headquarters is located," I said to her, watching her now as she slid the black lace panties down over white hips. She was trying to distract me with sex, and she was a lot of woman.

  "Maybe we can make some kind of compromise," she purred at me, standing there completely nude. She moved over to me and touched me with her breasts.

  "What kind of compromise?" I asked.

  She moved her body slightly against me. "You will settle for less than all the information you want, and I will give you a little present instead." She moved her tongue slowly across her lips.

  "I can take the present anyway," I reminded her, feeling her hips move against me.

  "Yes. But it would not be the same, would it? Not the same at all."

  I let the corner of my mouth move. She was good. She and Richter made a smooth team. He had probably used her on other Topcon missions. "And if I were willing to compromise, just what information would you give me?"

  She moved the hips more insistently, and it was damned distracting. "I cannot tell you where Topcon headquarters is because I do not know. Richter does not take me there. But I will tell you that he is checking into the Excelsior Hotel in Belgrade at Kneza Milosa 5. I will tell you because he will not be there long, and you will probably not get there in time to find him anyway."

  Her hips insinuated themselves closer to me. I put my hand around them and felt the soft flesh move under my touch. I grabbed her chin with the other hand, pulled her to me, planted a savage kiss on her lips. She stood there saucer-eyed and breathless. Then a look of confusion and frustration came into her eyes. She had been in control a moment ago, she had been guiding the action, but suddenly she had lost that control.

  I did not release my hold on her chin. I grabbed it in a tighter grip. "You're lying, honey," I insisted.

  The confusion changed to apprehension. "No…"

  "Oh, yes. I can see it in your eyes." I released her chin, but still held her to me with the other hand. Then I reached into my jacket and drew out Wilhelmina. I stuck the muzzle up against her left breast and sunk it into that soft flesh.

  "This isn't like before," I told her. "This time I've run out of patience. Now you listen carefully. I'm going to find out where Richter is hiding out in Belgrade whether you tell me or not. Do you really want to die just to make it a little tougher for me?"

  The fear she had shown before had returned to her eyes now. I could tell she was thinking about what I had said. She glanced down at the pistol pressed against her bosom, and then she looked into my eyes.

  "The Sava Hotel," she said quietly.

  I watched her face, and I was convinced. The Sava Hotel was the kind of place Richter would pick — small and out-of-the-way.

  "And Topcon headquarters is in Lausanne, isn't it?"

  She looked quickly at me and then away. I pushed the muzzle of the automatic harder against her breast. She gasped.

  "Yes," she answered quickly. "But I honestly don't know the address."

  I took the gun away and replaced it in its holster. "I believe you," I said. "And now I must leave you and get off at the next station."

  She had not moved away from me. "You do not wish to accept the other part of the arrangement I offered you?"

  I ran my hands over the full hips and kissed her mouth. She seemed hungry for me. But I had other things on my mind. I turned and pulled her scarf off a wall hook.

  "I'd enjoy it, I know," I admitted. "But I must put business before pleasure, at least sometimes."

  I brought the scarf up to her face, and she looked at it questioningly. Then I pulled it across her mouth and tied it at the back. She was suddenly squirming and hitting and making muffled sounds through the scarf. I grabbed her naked body, picked her up, carried her to the bunk and threw her on it. I thought I saw an expectant look come into her eyes for a moment, but I tied her to the bunk with her own belts and clothing. In a moment, she was spread-eagled on the bunk and glaring at me.

  "There won't be much need for a conductor or porter to beat your door down until you cross the border into Bulgaria," I told her. "And that's not until late today. By then, I'll have reached the Sava Hotel."

  Her eyes flared hatred at me, and she mumbled something in German through the scarf.

  "Don't feel too badly about being tied up," I smiled at her. "Just try to think of my alternative."

  I left her tied nude to the bunk and locked the compartment door after me. Then I went to Voiture 7 and my compartment to retrieve my small piece of luggage. I was ready to get off at the next whistle stop which came soon after.

  Now, I had to get back to Belgrade in the hope that Richter had gone to the Sava Hotel despite his being wanted by the Yugoslav police. I had to find out if he still had the radio in his possession.

  Ten

  It was about noon by the time I returned to Central Station in Belgrade on a second class milk train. I took a taxi along Sarajevoska street over to Kneza Mihajla Boulevard, passed the imposing National Museum, made a couple of turns to be sure we were not being followed, and then went directly to the Majestic Hotel on Obilicev Venac. Ursula was very relieved to see me.

  "Oh, Nick!" she said, throwing those soft arms around my neck when I entered her room. "I've been pacing the floor. Where the hell have you been."

  "I had to take care of some unfinished business. You didn't think I would leave you alone in this wicked Communist capital, did you?" I grinned.

  She closed the door behind me. I noticed that
she had checked into a very elegant room at a modest rate and that she had a fine view of the street. But now her thoughts were only of Hans Richter.

  "Did you find out anything?" she asked.

  I lit a cigarette and offered her one, but she declined. I regarded her seriously now. She was pretty tense. "I think I know where Richter is hiding out," I told her. "Unless he panicked and fled the city."

  "Is it near here?"

  I took a long drag on the cigarette and held it for a moment. "Yes, it's not far from here."

  "Where? A hotel?"

  I studied Ursula's face for a moment before I spoke. This seemed the appropriate time to tell her about the monitor. I either had to mention it to her or leave her out of the affair completely, and the latter alternative did not seem fair.

  "A hotel, yes," I said slowly.

  "Which one?" She moved to a telephone on a night table. "I will call the police and have them meet us there."

  I shook my head. "No, Ursula."

  She looked at me with mild surprise in her lovely blue eyes. Then she put the phone back down. "Why not?"

  "Ursula," I began, "I'm going to level with you. Richter has stolen an electronic device from the British government, a U.S. device that is important to the security of the West. He has this device with him. At least, he had it when he left Central Station through the window."

  She thought back a moment. "The radio?" she asked.

  "Yes, the radio. I'm pretty sure the device is hidden inside it."

  "That is why he carried the radio around with him on the train."

  I smiled. "That's what I believe at the moment. Now, the Yugoslav police would be happy to extradite him to West Germany to stand trial for war crimes. The Communists are always happy to see a man from the Third Reich caught. But I think you can understand that they might look differently on the matter of returning the electronic device to me."

  "I understand Nick," she said.

  "I tried to separate Richter from his radio at the station, but I was not successful," I continued. "If I had been, my assignment would have been finished. Now, I still have that radio to recover."