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Page 17
"Yes, I have been wrong - often," he admitted. "But not about this. I am convinced that my fate will be exactly as I foresee it. There is no escape." "But why don't you go away? To France? To England? Anywhere… " Hanussen did not answer. He stayed another hour with the Baroness - hardly speaking, haggard, in a state of near-collapse. Then he left. He drank four brandies in a café. He went into a flower shop and sent a dozen orchids to the small flat at the back of the tenement house - a last gesture, a final message to the woman whose life he had wrecked. Then he returned to his villa, sent his chauffeur to fetch the car. He slept an hour, then summoned Dzino. He asked him how his wife was, whether he still liked being married. Dzino replied coolly. They discussed next day's appointments; then the ex-officer told his chief that a woman had telephoned - she would only give her Christian name: Hedi. She would ring again. Yes, Hanussen would speak to her. Hedi had been his girl-friend for a few months in Vienna. They had parted good friends. Now she was working as a secretary at SA Headquarters. Half-an-hour after his return she called again - in a state of great excitement. He could barely make out at first what she was trying to say. But then she calmed down a little. "Listen, Erik ... pack your bag at once! Get all the money you can from the bank! Then take a taxi - and the first train out of the country. To?night! D'you hear me? To-night!" "You're crazy, Hedi." "No. This is very serious. My God, what can I do to make you understand? You're in danger, Erik! They'll do something to you… " "What can they do to me? And who are 'they'?" "I can't tell you. I don't know yet - not all of it. But it is certain. I heard it with my own ears - they talked about it to-day. I can't tell you more. I must be careful, Erik. I can't come to see you. They're bound to keep a watch over your house... Go away, Erik! Leave at once!" Then
she rang off. Hanussen put down the receiver, annoyed. His forebodings,
the sense of approaching doom that had shaken him in the apartment of the
Baroness - all that had faded away, was forgotten. Hedi must be mad, he
thought. These hysterical women! He had another brandy, dressed and set
out for the Scala. On the way he called in at the "Green Branch",
a favourite rendezvous of theatrical and show business people. And here
he was given another warning - this time by Toni Ott, another Viennese
woman whom he had known for several years. She told him that SA-men had
been asking for him the night before. She told him to be careful; she advised
him, like Hedi, to take a trip abroad. Hanussen grunted: "Nonsense!" Then
he glanced at his watch. He was due at the theatre in eleven minutes. He
decided to walk. |