The Strangler's Waltz

by Richard Lord

  Stebbel gave an appreciative laugh. He was starting to like working with Dörfner more and more.

  “I don’t think we’ll have to take it that far. But we sit her down in an interrogation room and we scare the holy spirit out of her. If she’s not pissing herself after five minutes, we won’t be doing our jobs right.”

  He drew a relaxing breath. “Besides, if we find out where the widow Keuler is hiding out, I wouldn’t be surprised to discover her brother is hiding out there with her.” Dörfner nodded. He, too, felt that the meeting upstairs had breathed now energy into the two men.

  * * *

  Nothing much happened over the next two days. The police were still not able to determine where Frau Keuler had escaped to, and even the eight extra sketches that Herr Hitler had provided weren’t able to help locate her brother. (Two of the new sketches stayed in their division, while the other six were distributed to other stations across the city.)

  There was an enlarged presence of foot patrolmen in the red-light district. Some of them were the Turk’s auxiliary force, looking suitably unpleasant. The increased patrols actually did have the effect of reducing the corps of streetwalkers. They were either afraid of being taken in for solicitation (still officially a criminal offense) or were just intimidated by the appearance of the Turk’s men. But there was no new headline material for the newspapers in those two days.

  Even so, Dörfner and Stebbel realized that they were just buying time, not making any real progress. They still had no idea where Arnold Brunner was, even if he was still anywhere near Vienna. And, truth be told, they weren’t really sure they weren’t just chasing down a false lead with Brunner.

  As Stebbel reminded Dörfner, the only evidence they had that Brunner might be involved in any of these murders came from that Hitler fellow, who – they had to admit – may not have been in full possession of his sanity. But they had nothing else to hold onto at that point, and they desperately needed something to hold onto.

  Chapter 37

  It was the third day after their meeting with the Police Commissioner.

  Late afternoon had passed into early evening. Stebbel was still at his desk. Spread out in front of him were the files of the five victims. He had each one opened so that the morgue photos were at the top.

  He examined each face, trying to imagine a life, a whole world, that had suddenly been brought to an end.

  He briefly touched each of the photos, as if he could recreate the lives behind these now lifeless faces: the young innocent from Galicia with a toy lion in the room where she serviced clients; the abandoned wife trying to keep her home and her sanity; the honors student working hard for a future that never came; the confused woman from the east who took refuge from her confusion in the deeper fog of opium. And, of course, the grace, warmth and generosity of the first victim, Frau von Klettenburg.

  He started to close the files. He felt so useless, unable to help the dead. And probably unable to help those soon to be dead.

  Dörfner walked in, his evening bag slung over his shoulder. He was ready to call it a day. He wanted Stebbel to join him for a drink. The senior partner at first politely turned him down, but Dörfner persisted. He told Stebbel that he really needed a break and a drink; they both did. Stebbel was just about to relent when the phone on their desk started ringing.

  “Don’t answer; it’s probably Rautz or Schollenberg.”

  “But it’s also officially after-hours. Let me see what they want. Maybe they just want us to pick up something tomorrow on our way in.” He slipped the receiver off its switch-hook and answered.

  “Inspector Stebbel here.”

  “Ah, Inspector Stebbel. Yes, Inspector, I’m so pleased to finally have the honor of speaking with you. I have some very valuable information for you.”

  “Who is this, please?”

  “I’m a friend of justice. And I’m very concerned about the strangler case. The one you and your partner are buried in right now.”

  “Oh?” Stebbel gave Dörfner a look that nicely expressed his confusion at that moment.

  “Yes. Anyway, I happen to know that you’re looking for someone right now. Your prime suspect. A certain Herr Brunner.”

  “Yes …?”

  “If you want to find him, I think you and your partner should go to the Ebersdorfer Bridge tomorrow evening at around nine. Right under the statue of Saint John of Nepomuk.”

  “I’m not too familiar with that location.”

  “It’s the only statue on that bridge.”

  “Then we shouldn’t have too much trouble finding it.”

  “I think you’ll be very glad you went there. Your prey will be waiting there, though he’d be very shocked to discover he’s waiting there for you.”

  “How do you know this? And, if it’s not too much to ask, could you please tell me who you are.”

  “A friend. As I said, the Nepomuk statue on the Ebersdorfer Bridge. Tomorrow at nine. Oh, and be careful: he will probably be carrying a weapon. He is, as you may know, a former member of the Imperial Guard.”

  “Yes, yes, we’re aware of that. But could you please just – ”

  “Good bye, Herr Inspector.” And with that, the caller clicked off. After a few moments, Stebbel hung up the phone and turned to Dörfner slightly blanched.

  “Who was that?”

  “He wouldn’t say. But he claims to know … that Brunner will be waiting somewhere tomorrow evening. He says we should go there ourselves if we want to make Herr Brunner’s acquaintance.”

  “What??”

  Stebbel nodded. “The Ebersdorfer Bridge. There in the middle.”

  “Just like that? Oh sure; we’ve been turning this town upside down for weeks and weeks looking for Brunner, and then someone calls and serves him up to us like a strudel on a shining plate.” He threw up his hands in exasperation. “It just can’t be that easy. There’s definitely something sinister behind this.”

  “I think we should go.”

  “No! It’s all a hoax. And probably a dangerous one at that.”

  “I think we have to go. Remember ‘pursue every lead, no matter how flimsy’? And what if we don’t go there and this swine kills another girl? And then another one, and another one after that. Would you be able to sit within your own skin after that? I know I wouldn’t. We’ll go, just to say we went, we tried. But first, we’ll tell Rautz about the call. And we’ll try to get as many people to go there with us as we think wise.”

  “Can’t be too many.”

  “No, that’s why I say as many as we think wise. But I don’t want to walk into this without some backup, some support there. Though you’re right: not so many that the killer thinks there’s a police parade marching through the area. We’ll discuss it with Rautz, see what the optimal number is. But we have to go and see what we can find. To tell the truth, I think the whole thing’s a fraud myself. But we have to be there to say that it was a fraud.”

  Dörfner took a deep, grumbling sigh. “OK, I guess you’re right. But we need that backup. I think this is probably a set-up and the only way we can avoid a nasty surprise is if we go in there with more firepower than they have.”

  “They? And who do you think this ‘they’ is?”

  “Whoever.”

  Chapter 38

  That next morning, the pace of activity on the fourth floor was achingly frantic. Stebbel and Dörfner first had to hunt down Senior Inspector Rautz and inform him of the call and the message the caller had left.

  Rautz was also fairly skeptical about the reliability of any new information coming from some anonymous caller, but agreed that they needed to pursue the lead. And pursue it with all available energy and resources.

  The first order of business: to put together a task force to be sent to the bridge and confront the killer – if, in fact, he even turned up there that evening.

  “So how much do you know about this suspect anyway?”

  “We know that he was a member of the Imperial Guard,
” Stebbel answered.

  “The guard?”

  “Stationed at the Hofburg.”

  “Oh, Gott in Himmel … So what else?”

  “The anonymous caller said that he would probably be carrying a weapon tonight.”

  “And we already know he’s good with his hands,” Dörfner added. Rautz nodded unhappily.

  After discussing their next moves a bit more, the three were unanimous that Inspector Prenger should be part of the team that went to the surprise party for the killer. Both Stebbel and Dörfner trusted Prenger, and he had more experience on stakeouts than the two of them put together.

  They also decided that they needed the best possible shooters with them. Rautz went to see Captain Farber, who was in command of the department’s hooks. He said he needed the names of the best marksmen amongst the hooks. Farber, who looked like he had just been woken up, agreed and said that he would put the word out. He should, he promised, have some solid recommendations in a few days.

  “We need them one hour from now.”

  “One hour? That’s just absolutely impossible.”

  “Well, you have to find a way to make it possible, Herr Colleague. Honestly, I wish we had more time, but we don’t. And if you want to discuss the matter further, you’ll have to speak with District Commander Schollenberg … and the Commissioner.”

  After twisting a scowl around his face several times, Farber nodded. “Alright. But let me tell you something, Rautz. You better take a few days off after this. Maybe even apply for a rest spa. You’re getting rather obsessive. I’ve heard you’re all getting pretty obsessive down at that end of the corridor.” He then sat back, took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. “So you need our best marksmen?”

  “And we need men with strong nerves. Men who won’t panic. Even in a situation when any normal human being would panic.”

  Farber heaved a long sigh. “How many do you need?” Rautz smiled and held up four fingers.

  Farber said, “I’ll try to have four good men report to you in an hour’s time.”

  Rautz thanked him, patted him on the shoulder, then rushed off to make other arrangements.

  As they plotted out their strategy, they also brought in one Sergeant Király from the Morality Police division. Király was a decorated officer whose beat in the early days had included the area around the Ebersdorfer Bridge. (The south bank there had once been a popular place for impromptu sexual encounters.) Király briefed them on the geography of the area and how they could work out the capture.

  With a district map spread out in front of him, Sergeant Király indicated some key places. “Right here on the corner, at the south side of the river, there’s this café. A nice place, with a small seating area out front.” Dörfner’s eyes widened at this piece of information.

  “The problem is, I don’t think the café stays open that late. Otherwise, it would be a perfect surveillance point.”

  Rautz waved this concern away. “It will be open tonight. I’ll take care of that myself. I’ll send a few people over there, including someone from the Health Authority. If they don’t want to help us, we’ll just threaten to find some obscure violation and close them down for a week. They’ll be cooperative.”

  “Good,” Király continued. “Then you can station a few men there. It can give you a decent view of the bridge, at least from this point to around the middle. About here.

  “Now on the north side of the river, there used to be a number of benches facing the river bank. I hope they’re still there.”

  “We’ll check that as well,” Rautz said.

  “Fine. Now, if they are still there, you can put two men right here.” He pointed to a spot. “This provides an even better view of the bridge and anyone mounting it. You are all going to be undercover, right?” The four inspectors nodded. “Then there shouldn’t be any problem. And the sweetest thing is that no matter what side of the bridge the suspect enters from, one of these lookout posts will be able to see him and alert the others.”

  Prenger then stepped in. “And because it’s a bridge, we’ll have him automatically boxed in. If we have officers advancing from both the north and the south, he’ll have nowhere to flee.”

  “Except maybe jump into the river,” Stebbel noted.

  “I hope he’s a good swimmer then,” Prenger responded.

  “You mean, you hope he’s a bad swimmer.”

  “Yes; that’s exactly what I meant.”

  This part of the planning session wrapped up quickly from there. Sergeant Király headed back to his own division after receiving hearty thanks from the four inspectors. They were all satisfied with a job well done.

  Shortly before noon, the four lower-rank marksmen arrived and the group moved to a larger briefing room. Assignments and overall strategy were gone through in tight detail. Stebbel and one of the marksmen would be sitting at an outdoor table, posing as customers. Another marksman would also be there, pretending to be their waiter.

  Prenger and his partner would be on the north side miming a pleasant evening chat on a bench. Dörfner and the youngest member of the team, Officer Esslin, would be stationed on the south side, diagonally across from the café, and they would advance as soon as the suspect appeared.

  “But he can’t see us,” Dörfner said. “We have to stay out of sight until he arrives.”

  “Or blend completely into the background,” Stebbel added.

  The briefing ran smoothly and efficiently. Rautz stood back while Stebbel, Dörfner and Prenger outlined the operation. They then asked for questions. One of the sharpshooters from the street patrols raised his hand.

  “When do we use our weapons?”

  “We will try not to use our weapons,” Stebbel replied firmly. “We want to take this man alive, and in good health. We would like to ask him questions about these murders. Many questions.”

  The young cop raised his hand again. “But what if he pulls out a weapon?”

  “Then we shoot,” Dörfner interjected. “Without hesitation. We try to wound him, but if necessary …” He paused and looked at Stebbel, who completed the thought.

  “If necessary, we do what is necessary.”

  Chapter 39

  The team gathered in a special room in the headquarters canteen for their Vespers meal, a light supper of bread, cheese, sliced meats and pickles. No alcohol was allowed. “I’ll treat you all to a good drink at the end of this evening’s assignment,” Inspector Rautz said as he raised his glass filled with mineral water. Then he offered a toast. “To a complete success.”

  The other officers all lifted their glasses. “To complete success.”

  Shortly after eight, the team was taken to the area of operations in two police vehicles. After dropping off the members of the team, the vehicles drove off; they didn’t want the suspect to see two police cars sitting together and get suspicious.

  The group then broke up into its three components: the café, the bench north of the bridge, and just south of the bridge. By 8:40, they were all in place, guarding their positions as if guarding a patch of sacred ground.

  Inspector Rautz, however, took up his post in the café itself, towards the back. He had decided to supervise the operation from a safe distance. But he served another important function there, as he explained to the front-line officers. He had to sit there with the café owner and keep him calm, assuring him as often as need be that his establishment was safe, that there would be no gunplay in or around the café.

  While there had been anticipation, even excitement, from the time they first left for the Ebersdorfer Bridge until they had taken their places, as nine o’clock neared, the mood had changed radically. At about ten to nine, it was a free-floating uneasiness; five minutes later, this uneasiness had increased considerably. Then, as the minutes squeezed ever closer to the top of the hour, it swelled into raw tension.

  Stebbel could read it in the face and neck of Officer Koubek, the young cop chosen to stand post with him. He also noti
ced that Koubek was doing flexing exercises with his right hand, the one he used to fire a gun. Was this a good sign for a sharpshooter? Or just the opposite?

  He then noticed that his own hand was shaking. When he turned and saw that their “waiter” was also flexing his hands and fingers, he decided to do likewise.

  Not too far from where Stebbel was sitting, Dörfner felt his old army injury acting up. This sometimes happened when he was extremely tense, but it was especially unwelcome then. The inspector knew that he might need to move quickly and deftly when the suspect appeared, and an old pain throbbing in his leg was the last thing he needed.

  But that wasn’t the only pain he felt. His neck was also starting to ache, something that occurred only when he was extremely tense. He rubbed his neck vigorously, hoping to work out the ache. When he gazed over at his own partner, Officer Schildhauer, he saw extreme nervousness in his face. He also saw his lips moving and then realized that Schildhauer was praying. Dörfner himself then made the sign of the cross, closed his eyes briefly, and asked for guidance in the task to come.

  Then it was nine o’clock, the time the caller claimed Brunner would arrive. But as the bells tolled nine in a nearby church, no one had come. No one at all. All the policemen breathed a sigh – a sigh equal parts relief and impatience.

  There was no heightened tension from the previous high level until another five minutes had passed – and no suspect had come by. In fact, no one at all had come by. Another five minutes later, Brunner was still a no-show and when 9:15 arrived and there was still no prime suspect, the entire stakeout team was nearing the breaking point.

  Inspector Prenger started counting backwards from thirty. When he reached zero, he turned to his junior, Officer Kern, and said, “Well, he’s now officially fifteen minutes late. Das akademische Viertel. If this were a classroom, we could leave immediately.” Then, with a wry smile: “Don’t you wish you were back at school?”

  From the back of the café, Senior Inspector Rautz gazed at his watch for about the fortieth time in the last twenty minutes. He had seen no movement from the three officers outside, so he could only assume that the suspect had not appeared yet. Gingerly, he moved a little closer to the front window and craned his neck to see what he could see. What he saw was a quiet evening scene, dimly lit, with no one in view other than Inspector Stebbel, Officer Koubek and Officer Griesser in waiter’s dress.