Chapter 4 third chapter

A large aircraft flew over the Cape of Breton Island, began to make a slow left turn, then lowered its altitude, and continued to fly according to the new course.The nose of the plane is now heading southwest, and it will pass Halifax and Boston before arriving in New York.On the plane, Heckcroft spent most of his time in the second-floor lounge.He sat alone in an armchair in the rear right corner of the lounge, the black briefcase leaning against the bulkhead.Here, it is easier for him to concentrate on thinking; while in the cabin, if he holds the document in his hand and reads it over and over again, the eyes of the neighbors may fall on the document inadvertently.

He began with the letters of Heinrich Crossen, an unknowable figure whose influence permeates everywhere.His letter itself is an incredible piece of stuff.Its contents are simply creepy to read.No wonder that Manfradi, on behalf of all the directors of the Grand Bank of Geneva, proposed to Heycroft to destroy the letter.Because in this letter, Crosson described in popular words the detailed source of the large sum of money he deposited in the Bank of Geneva before thirty o'clock. According to our contemporary jurisprudence point of view, thieves and thieves cannot be prosecuted legally; and most of the sources of this large sum of money are of the nature of thieves and thieves, so they can not be prosecuted by law.However, some of the sources will still be prosecuted in today's law.Throughout World War II, Germany looted everywhere.It has drained its own interior and looted other countries.Hitler stripped the property of political dissidents at home, and devoured the wealth of the conquered countries.Had the world been reminded of Hitler's brutal and plundering methods, someone would have come forward to file a protracted lawsuit against Crossen's large deposit, and the international court in The Hague will try to judge this sum. long-term freeze.

Manfradi said in Geneva: "Destroy this letter from Crossen. You can understand his motives for doing so in your heart. You don't need to know what he did at the time. His actions It has caused an extremely complicated consequence, and later generations cannot eliminate it at all. But you have to be careful: someone may try to obstruct your next plan, or someone may want to take this huge sum from you money, because you are now a giant handling hundreds of millions of dollars." Knoller read Crosson's letter perhaps twenty times.Every time he read it, he always tried to imagine what it would be like to write this letter, that is to say, what kind of person his biological father would be.He had no idea what Heinrich Crossen looked like.His mother destroyed all the photos, letters, and materials that had any clues about the man she hated.

Here is Crossen's letter: My son: I am writing to you at a time when the Imperial Army is collapsing across the board.Berlin is in danger, the city is full of flames, and corpses are everywhere.Let it all go.Now I don't want to spend time talking to you about what has happened, or will happen in the past, nor about those who have betrayed their beliefs; , thus causing evil to triumph over good.In this sprite world, if anyone rises up to accuse the devil, he himself will be misunderstood, and will be suspected of being a mutual attack between the devil. So, I don't say anything now, I want to use my own actions to illustrate who I am.God bless, may you be proud of some of my actions.

I have finally established such a belief for myself: If you are guilty, you should atone for your sins. Two of my closest friends, as well as my most capable colleagues, are mentioned in the papers connected with this letter, who also affirmed this belief.We must atone for the damage we have done, to atone for the sins of unforgivable, heinous, treacherous acts.Atonement can also be called seeking forgiveness.The reason why we made this arrangement is to be able to receive partial forgiveness. Five years ago, your mother took a decisive action that I could not understand at the time.Because I am foolishly loyal to the new order.At the time, I thought that what she said in her indignation was sheer nonsense, because she had listened to the slander of those scoundrels who were loyal to the country.Unexpectedly, two years ago, in February 1943, all her words came true.We bigwigs in finance and politics have all been duped.For two years it has become clear that Germany is headed for its downfall.But we pretended nothing had happened.But we knew in our hearts that Germany was going to die.Others know this too; so they become unscrupulous.Immediately all kinds of inhuman atrocities occurred, and the whole deception became more and more obvious.

Twenty-five months ago I drew up a plan, and had the support of my dear friends in the Treasury.They support me purely of their own free will. Our goal is to transfer many huge sums to neutral Switzerland.This money could one day be used to support thousands of people whose families were ruined by the brutality of those beasts.Under the banner of Germany, this group of beasts did atrocious deeds.In fact, they don't know what German honor is. We know the situation of those concentration camps. The names of the concentration camps such as Belsen, Daqiu, and Auschwitz will be remembered forever.We also know the atrocities of mass murder of innocent men, women and children, lined up on the edge of ditches they themselves dug, and then shot at.We also know - for God's sake!We also know about those furnaces that burned the living!There are also nozzles that spray poisonous gas instead of hot shower water.There are also those inhuman doctors. The medical profession they do is really unprecedented. They do inhumane and unbearable experiments on the bodies of living people.Our hearts would break and our eyeballs would explode if we were to witness these things.However, it is in vain that we shed tears for these things.But we still have thoughts, our brains haven't lost their function, so we can still think about countermeasures.

If you are guilty, you should make amends. Though we have no magic to bring back life to the dead, nor can we restore that which has been stripped away by barbarism and violence.But we can manage to find all survivors of this catastrophe, and all descendants of those who were killed and those who survived, in order to atone for our sins as best we can in them.We must find them from all over the world and show them that we have not forgotten the past.We are ashamed before them.We are willing to do our best to serve them.As long as we can, we must serve them.Everything we have done revolves around this purpose.

I never thought that what we did was enough to atone for our sins, the crimes in which we were unconsciously implicated; but we—and myself—were trying to atone.Those prejudgments of your mother haunt me every minute now.Oh, God!Why did I refuse to heed the advice of this great and good woman? Now for my plan. We're going to convert all the money we get into dollars.Our goal is to deposit $10 million in Swiss banks every month.At first glance, this number may seem too large.But you only need to compare it with all the financial channels of the Nazi Treasury, and the total amount of funds that were handled during the peak years of the war, then it is not worth mentioning.As a result we exceeded our goal.

Using the Nazi treasury, we were able to suck out the sums we needed from hundreds of points across the Reich.Even to a large extent, we suck this kind of funds from outside the empire, because the empire is constantly expanding.Taxation is one source of our money; the bulk of the armaments appropriation of the Ordnance Department is another source; we can also squeeze out a little money from the expenditure of the Wehrmacht; various funds allocated to the occupied territories , We are often intercepted halfway.From the property confiscated by the empire, all the income from big industrialists, factories, private companies, etc., which should have been turned over to the imperial treasury, actually went to our account.The money raised from the auction of various art treasures in the many museums in the occupied countries is also included in our project.

It was a master plan, and we executed it quite successfully.We risk our lives every day and every hour, all under the shadow of terror.But no matter how great the risk is, it is nothing in the face of our belief that if you are guilty, you should atone for your sin. Whether a plan can be successful depends on whether its goals can be maintained for a long time.A plan of action that captures a port under the guidance of a plan of action and is recaptured by the enemy from the sea on the third day is not a plan of action.When formulating a plan, all possible damage and interference from various aspects should be taken into consideration.As far as formulating a truly well-thought-out plan is concerned, it is necessary to foresee the changes in circumstances that will inevitably be brought about by the changes of the years, so as to prevent problems before they happen, so as to ensure that the results obtained in each step of the plan are consistent. The most fundamental point is that we should try to make the factor of time a condition for realizing the plan; and we are trying our best to use the factor of time according to the conditions stipulated in the document.

We do hope that God will bless us and help the victims and survivors earlier than originally planned.However, there is a risk that the world will covet the huge sum of money we have obtained, and our plans will be completely frustrated.Therefore, if we want to make this plan successful, we must postpone the implementation of this plan until our next generation. Even so, there will still be certain risks, but this risk can be reduced due to the passage of time. The air raid transcript kept ringing in my ears.Time was indeed running out.As far as myself and my two dear friends are concerned, we are not dead at this moment, just waiting to know whether the letter has indeed been sent to Zurich by an underground courier.As soon as we know that the letter has reached its destination, we will fulfill a treaty of our own - a treaty between us and death - each of us three will carry out this treaty with our own hands . God bless, let us atone for our sins. "If you are guilty, you should make atonement." This is the covenant we made for you—my son. My only begotten son who has never met but bears the suffering of my sins, keep the covenant I have made for you, fulfill it, for what I want you to do is an honorable thing. father word April 20, 1945 in Berlin Hecroft put the letter back on the table and looked at the blue sky with white clouds outside the porthole.There was a trail of white smoke from the plane in the sky in the distance. His eyes followed the white smoke to search, and finally found the small silver-white fuselage. His thoughts returned to the letter.The content of the letter is sentimental, and the language belongs to the previous generation, with an air of exaggeration.But this does not detract from the intention of the letter writer to express himself, and even makes the content of the letter more convincing.It seems that Crossen's motives for writing the letter are sincere, and his feelings are also extremely restrained. What was left unsaid in the letter was just what exceptional features of his arrangement. It stands out for its simplicity, and it stands out for its brilliant use of both time and financial legislation to achieve and protect what it seeks to achieve. Because, the three Nazis who presided over this arrangement know that such a huge sum of money will neither be sunk into a pond by future generations, nor will it be sealed forever in the underground vault of a certain bank. .It is impossible for so many billions of dollars of currency to be quietly disposed of in the financial market in pieces, so there is no need to worry about some small brokers deriving this huge sum of money into small assets that are easy to sell , and then intermittently exchanged for currencies of other countries. The three hosts determined that the huge sum of money deposited in the bank must be in hard currency, and that the responsibility for keeping this wealth must be entrusted to one of the most reputable banks in the world, the Grand Bank of Geneva.It is absolutely impossible for a bank like this to cheat on withdrawals and settlements, because it is the mainstay of international finance.It has always abided by the conditions negotiated with each account, and it is good at making fuss about the words of contracts or agreements to whitewash the real situation of depositors so that it does not conflict with the basic laws of Switzerland.Keeping absolute secrecy for depositors--a minimum rule in the banking industry--yet doing nothing against existing laws; this is the secret of this bank that never fails.Therefore, if the money is deposited in this bank, the painstaking purpose of Crossen and his group will never be in vain, and every sentence in their documents can be guaranteed to be fulfilled.It is impossible to imagine any fraud or malfeasance in this bank.A sum of money is deposited in this bank for thirty years, or even half a century, and nothing will happen; thirty or fifty years is just a moment in the financial calendar. Knoller reached into the briefcase, stuffed Crosson's letter into a compartment inside the bag, and at the same time took out the paperwork from the Grand Bank of Geneva.Its cover is leather.The instrument itself is folded in the fashion of a will, which is (or, at least is) a will.Leaning against the back of his seat, he opened the clasp on the cover of the document, which revealed the first page of the document. Heckcroft thought: "This is the contract that Crossen made for me." He glanced at every sentence, every paragraph on the page, the phraseology of which seemed less foreign to him now.As he watched, he subconsciously played with the corners of the document with his fingers, trying to figure out the main points of the first page. The names of the two accomplices involved in Crossen's arrangement were: Ilrich Kesseler and Wilhelm von Tepper. The purpose of mentioning these two names on the document is not to let the person who opened the document know that these two people participated in this plan, but to facilitate him to find out the whereabouts of the eldest son or daughter of these two people ,build connection.This is the first task stipulated by the instrument for the demolisher. Although the document stipulates that the heir to this huge sum of money is Nolle Hecroft, an American; Only under the circumstances, this huge sum of money can be withdrawn from the big banks in Geneva.Moreover, the three eldest heirs must formally express to the directors of the Bank of Geneva that they fully accept the conditions and goals set by the original clerk regarding the distribution of the funds. If, after the review by the directors of the Bank of Geneva, the three descendants are considered unqualified or unable to fulfill the provisions of the document, the directors can select the brothers or sisters of the three descendants as the object of review to determine the choice. If all the descendants of these three scribes are unqualified, the big bank of Geneva will still seal the huge sum of more than 700 million U.S. dollars in the vault for the next generation of descendants; at that time, the next generation of directors of the bank will be Another document will be unsealed with the new descendants of the three men. This kind of determination of the original clerk is unshakable, that is to say, if one generation of descendants does not live up to expectations, they are determined to wait for the next generation. Heinrich Crossen's first son was named Norle Heckcroft.He lives in the United States with his mother and stepfather.At a date selected by the directors of the Grand Bank of Geneva - a date which shall be at least thirty and at most thirty-five years from the date of the inscription - he will meet the heir of Heinlech Crossen and make him acquainted with him. Then he will try to find two other descendants who will inherit this huge sum of money with him; they will then submit the sum to the Grand Bank of Geneva together in accordance with the conditions stipulated in the document.Knoller should be the go-between for distributing the funds to the families of victims of the Holocaust of World War II and the descendants of survivors. The document explained the reasons for the selection of Crossen's son, Knoller Heycroft, as intermediary.That was because, since the boy had become a member of an American (and a wealthy and well-placed American at that) family member, his origins could not be suspected.His stepfather, Richard Heycroft, was an adoring husband.This Richard tried his best to hide his wife's previous living experience, such as: her first marriage, running away from Berlin, returning to the United States, and so on.To this end, Richard obtained a certificate of death of an infant from the City of London; the certificate reads: Infant, male, surnamed Crosson, date of death is February 17, 1942.He also got another New York City birth certificate; the sex of the new baby: Male, last name Heckcroft.As the years go by, these past events are more and more obliterated in people's memory and attention.So the baby boy named Crosson grew up to be Knoller Heckcroft in later years.People also don't know his real origin.But it is an undeniable fact that he has these backgrounds.Because of this, he is the most ideal intermediary, fully in line with the requirements and purposes stipulated in the document. It is stipulated in the document that an international office should be established in Zurich as the agency responsible for allocating the funds.As for the true source of the money, it will always be kept secret.If the agency needs to have an external spokesperson in the future, Heycroft, the American, is the natural choice.Because the names of the other two descendants would be despised in society, people knew at a glance that they were descendants of German Nazis.And if the names of these two descendants are involved, someone in the society will inevitably come forward to ask questions to find out the relationship between this huge sum of money and these two descendants of the Nazis; this will inevitably expose the true source of the money in the accounts.In that way, it is inevitable to arouse the righteous indignation of those victims of bankruptcy, confiscation, and confiscation caused by the Nazi Germany's lustful power, and the Hague International Court will receive a lot of appeals for the return of property. Knoller thought to himself: I still don't know what kind of characters the descendants of Kesler and Tabor are!It won't be long before he finds out, though. Some of the conditions stipulated in the latter part of the instrument are no less astonishing than the former part.It states: This huge sum of money had to be distributed to the beneficiaries within half a year after it was withdrawn from the big bank in Geneva. This regulation will force the three descendants to go all out to carry out this work; and this is also the central intention of the clerk.They are asking their descendants to go all out to carry out the cause they left behind.The order and law of life of their descendants will be temporarily disrupted because of this, and they have to make certain sacrifices for this.And their sacrifices will be rewarded.At the end of the half-year period, when all the funds have been successfully distributed, the international office in Zurich will be dissolved; and the three descendants will each receive an award of two million dollars. In half a year, two million dollars in rewards! Two million dollars! Knoller was figuring out what the $2 million would do for him personally and for his construction firm. First of all, with two million dollars, it means that he has freedom.In Geneva, Manfradi said, he is a talented person.He also knows he has talent.It's a pity that his talent is often not shown in the buildings he designed.He often had to accept projects he didn't want to describe; he had to modify his own design drawings according to opinions that were contrary to his own architectural intentions; I really want to contract the project.In recent years, he himself felt that he was becoming more and more dissatisfied with the status quo. All industries are increasingly disregarding the quality of products: the artificial waste of goods coupled with currency depreciation and installment debt, all these evil consequences, this architect who once had a certain professional conscience knows best.Maybe, relying on the two million yuan and the freedom won by the two million yuan, he can redeem his career conscience again! Hecroft wondered, why did he immediately make up his mind to accept the conditions on the document?Because according to his habit, if he didn't think through a matter thoroughly, he would not make a rash decision.However, he now wants to redeem his lost conscience with money.As for the money, he had thought he could resist its temptation. What kind of person is the eldest daughter or eldest son of Kesser and Tabor?The older child of the former is a boy and a scholar.The eldest child of the latter is a girl.Knoller only knew the gender and occupation of the two men.Both of them lived in Germany when they were young, and both witnessed the conditions in Germany at that time.They were not too young at that time, and it was impossible for them to forget all the scenes of the year; they all had impressions of the ghostly world of the Third Reich.As for this, Knoller, the American, was relatively ignorant, and there seemed to be a lot to be consulted with the two of them. Have a lot of questions to ask them?Are there really so many questions? He has made up his mind to accept the conditions on the paperwork.At the beginning, he did tell Manfradi that before he made up his mind to accept the conditions in the paperwork, he would have to think about it; at least give him a few days to think about it. The Swiss banker asked him, "Do you really have to think before you can make up your mind?" Knoller said at the time: "I don't make up my mind until I think about it first. I'm not a guy who buys without looking at the market. I'm not afraid of threats from those crazy people thirty years ago." " "You shouldn't be afraid of them either. You go back and discuss it with your mother." Hersenloft was completely confused, and asked, "What did you say? Didn't you just say..." "I said just now, 'Keep this a secret from anyone,' didn't I? Yes, that's what I said. But your mother is the only exception." "Why is that? In my opinion, she is the last person who should know the secret of this matter..." "She should know the secret of this research the most, and she is the only one who can know the secret of this matter. She will definitely respect your trust in her." Mambonrady's suggestion is correct.For, if he had agreed to accept the terms of the paper, he would have to close his construction company and go out in search of the descendants of Kessler and Tabor.At that time, his mother was bound to ask why the company was closed; it was not in her nature to keep her thoughts to herself.She had to get to the bottom of it.Moreover, if by some chance, even the most accidental, she should have discovered the existence of this large deposit at the Bank of Geneva, and the part Crossin had played in collecting it, she would have been furious.Her memory of the megalomaniac bandits of the Third Reich would never fade away.If she reveals the secret of this matter in a fit of rage, the international court will freeze this huge sum of money for a long time. "What should I do if I can't persuade her to help me accept the conditions on this document?" "You must try to persuade her anyway. Crosson's letter is very persuasive; and, if necessary, our bank will intervene in this matter. But in any case, you had better start with Check out her attitude." Knoller thought: who knows what her attitude will be?As far as he knew his mother, he felt that she was not an ordinary woman.He has felt since he was a child that his mother, Aixin, is different from other people's mothers.She wasn't one of the rich housewives of Manhattan, New York.She lived (or rather, experienced in the past) the days of sweet cars and BMWs.Riding horses, boating, spending weekends in some tourist attractions, etc.;But after all, she didn't want to be madly in the limelight or look down on one side in the social world.And, for her, it was all over.She lived in the changing European society in the 1930s.She was a young, carefree American woman then.After breaking up with her first husband, she left a child of her own.From then on, she left the group of companions in Germany, but the fate of these companions was far worse than hers.After leaving them far away, her life became more comfortable.She was not only familiar with the Salon of the Exiles in Paris, but also with St. James's Palace in London, where the British royal family received foreign envoys, and with the emerging and powerful dignitaries in Germany at that time.After going through these vanity fairs, she has experienced a lot of vicissitudes in life.After experiencing the love, hatred, joy, and anger of the world, she inevitably felt tired of the world of mortals; after that, her state of mind tended to be peaceful instead. Aixin is a special woman.She was to Noller both a mother and a friend.The affectionate friendship between mother and child does not require frequent mutual confessions.In Hecroft's eyes she was more a friend than a mother; she herself felt that being his friend made her feel more comfortable. Once, she smiled and said to him: "Nuo Le, I have made a lot of mistakes in my life. I think I really can't use my seniority to put on airs as a mother in front of you." Now, it seemed, he would have to go and tell her about someone she'd tried to forget for most of her life. Would she be irritated by it?Maybe not.So, would she have doubts about the purpose stipulated in Manfradi's document? If she had read Heinrich Crossen's handwritten letter, perhaps she would no longer have any doubts? No matter how bad her impression of Crossen was, Noller felt that she was a rational and analytical person after all.Bad people can also change, and they may be condemned by conscience.Although she may not have a good impression of this document, she will accept it out of reason. Today is Saturday, tomorrow is Sunday.His mother and stepfather were spending the weekend at their cottage in Bedford Hills.Tomorrow morning he was going to drive to meet them and talk to his mother about it.By next Monday, he will be leaving for Switzerland.He is going to Zurich.Starting next Monday, he will devote himself to the work of finding the two descendants. Knoller recalled the process of his contact with Manfradi; before breaking up, the latter focused on introducing some information about the two descendants to him. Manfradi said at the time: "The Kesseler family has two sons. The eldest son, like his father, is also named Illich, a professor of history at the University of Berlin. The second son is Hans, who practices medicine in Munich. As far as I know , These two people are highly respected in their respective circles. The two brothers have a good relationship, as long as Yilih knows about this document, he will definitely ask his brother to participate in this matter." "Is that okay?" "There is no rule in the document that says no. Anyway, after the event is completed in the future, each of your three families can only divide two million yuan; and each family has only one vote when dealing with this huge sum of money. Just because two brothers participated will not count as two votes." "And what about the Temple family?" "His family is a different situation. If you want to find them, you may encounter some difficulties. From the archives left after the Second World War, Wilhelm von Tepper's wife, with her Two children, fled to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. About five or six years ago, their family disappeared. In fact, they fled elsewhere. Even the local police could not find out their whereabouts. They did not stay No address, no professional correspondence. No trace of them in other big cities. This is a bit strange. William's wife, for a while, seemed to be doing well in Brazil. Later , no one knows what happened to their family. Otherwise, someone knows that something happened to their family, but they don't want to make it public. " "You said there are two children in their family, what are their names?" "There were actually three children in the family. The youngest was a girl named Halting. She was born in Brazil after the war, that is to say, her mother conceived her at the end of the Third Reich. The oldest one is also a girl named Ke Liqing. The one in the middle is a boy named Yoan." "You said their family is missing?" "The word 'disappeared' is to make things easier. We are in the banking industry, not detectives; so the depth of our investigation is limited, and Brazil is such a big country. If you want to investigate their whereabouts in the future , it should be more thorough than ours. Both descendants of Da should be found, and their identities must be verified. This is the first condition stipulated in the document; if this cannot be done, our bank will not allow withdrawals .” Hecroft closed the leather case of the document and put it back in the briefcase.Inadvertently, the tip of his finger touched the threatening letter written thirty years ago by a survivor of Wolf's Den. Knoller thought, Manfradi was right. The people who wrote this letter were some old, sick and sick lunatics. In the opportunity of future developments, express themselves for the last time.They knew nothing of the future, otherwise the tone of their letter would have been to entreat Heinrich Crossen's son, to persuade him, not to threaten him.What's puzzling, though: why do they speak in a threatening tone?What are they trying to achieve by doing this?Perhaps Manfradi was right in another thought, he thought; the threatening letter was now meaningless.Let it go, then, there are many things to think about. There is an aisle in the middle of the lounge, and there are two people sitting at a table across the aisle from Nuo Le.The stewardess was talking to them.Knoller, while she was looking his way, gestured to her for a scotch.She nodded to him with a kind smile, meaning that she would deliver the wine in a little while.Then he went back to his own thoughts. He couldn't make up his mind about one thing—is he really going to devote nearly a year to realizing the plan on the paperwork?This plan is indeed at stake.The bank has to first check whether he himself is qualified to execute it; then, even if he finds the other two descendants, the bank has to check whether they are qualified.Is he really ready to devote himself to this plan?He couldn't help but recall Manfradi's words: "Do you really have to think about it before you make up your mind?" Knoller felt: He really should think about it before making up his mind.However, he also felt that he could make this determination without thinking about it before looking at it.Because the two million dollars are too tempting to resist.It presupposes that he can be free because of it.But having said that, he is not absolutely unable to resist this temptation.He admitted that he was not satisfied with the status quo.However, judging from his company's business development, the future is optimistic.His reputation is growing day by day.Now more and more clients appreciate his architectural design talent.What's more, these customers also spread the word to make him famous everywhere.In this case, what would happen if his company suddenly went out of business?At present, he has bid on more than ten bidding projects; and in each project, there are several competitors who compete with him.What would it mean for him if he suddenly withdrew bids from all these competing projects now?These issues are worthy of careful consideration.He felt that after all, he was not a person who stinks of money. Although Knoller thought a lot, he also knew that all these considerations were useless.All these considerations are nothing compared to the significance of this will given to him by his father.Regardless of his own future situation and prospects, he should distribute a huge sum of money to the survivors who have suffered a catastrophe that is rare in human history.And, he was long overdue for such a good deed.This is his bounden duty.He seemed to hear the painful voice of his biological father whom he had never met.This voice had been calling to him for thirty years, asking him to come out and do this debt-paying work.He couldn't say exactly why, but he remembered that he couldn't ignore the anguished cries of his biological father's soul.He could not remain indifferent to his biological father's inner confession. 他决定第二天一清早就驱车前往贝德福山庄，去见他的母亲。 赫克洛夫特看了看空中小姐究竟在给他端威士忌没有。在这架747客机休息室的一个角落里，有一个柜台，那儿灯光较暗淡。乘客们可以在那儿喝酒：空中小姐正在柜台里边，那张桌上的两个人也走到了柜台边。接着又来了第三个人。还有一个人，这时正悄悄地坐到休息室另一头最靠边的座位上看报。 跟着空中小姐到柜台边的那两个人，看起来醉醺醺的；那第三个人为了找那两个醉汉搭腔说话，也装成十分醉的样子。空中小姐偶一抬头，正和诺勒的目光相遇。她看出他在等着威士忌酒。她皱皱眉头，装出一副无可奈何的表情。她已经替地斟满了一杯怀酒。偏巧旁边的醉汉把它碰洒了。她正拿着一块拭布擦呢。这时，那两个醉汉中的一个，突然一跟头倒栽到一把椅子上，接着又滚到地板上了。空中小姐赶紧从柜台后赶出来想扶起这位旅客；而他的伙件，却扶着身边的一把椅子站在一边，嘻嘻哈哈地看笑话。那第三个人这时正伸手端起柜台上一环新倒的威士忌来喝。坐在休息室另一头悄悄看报的那个人，看着这帮醉汉，脸上显出一副憎恶的表情，故意把手中的报纸抖得哗哗响，来作为一种抗议的表示。诺勒起身走到舷窗边，他不愿意和这阵小骚乱沾边。 几分钟以后，空中小姐端了酒走到了诺勒身边的桌旁；她说：“对不起，赫克洛夫特先生，酒送晚了。你瞧男人就总是这样。尤其是大西洋这条航线上的男旅客总是这样，你刚才是要加冰块不掺水的威士忌吗？给你送来了。” 诺勒从这位漂亮姑娘端的盘子里按过酒杯，他一面端详她双眼的神情，一面说：“谢谢你，我是要这种酒。” 姑娘的眼神似乎在说：“谢谢你这位正经人，你没象那几个浑醉如泥的家伙那样缠着我。” 要是换一种场合，也许他就要和这位始娘攀谈起来。可是他现在是满腹心事，所以也就没这兴致了。 他脑子里正在给自己安排星期一的活动程序呢。他要关闭他的买卖，单就解雇他公司的雇员来说，是不会有什么困难。可是眼下，有关方面正在审查纽约赫克洛夫特建筑公司为某些大项目工程而设计的图纸。一旦这些图纸被采纳，赫克洛夫特公司就变马上扩充，雇员得增加三倍。总收入会增加四倍。在这种关头，诺勒竟要关闭自己的建筑公司，这岂不招人怀疑吗？所以他必须编一个听起来合情合理、还能经得起别人盘诘推敲的口实。 就在这时，休息室另一头的一位旅客，突然从自己座位上猛跳起来，声嘶力竭地发出了一声痛苦的狂叫。他的身体弓着，背部剧烈地抽搐，好象他快要窒息了；开始的时候，他双手狠抓自己的腹部，接着抓胸部。他跌撞在一个挂着各次班机航线图的木屏风上，全身发疯地痉挛着。两眼圆睁，颈上青筋暴起，随着一声巨响，终于摔倒在机舱地板上。这人就是刚才走到柜台边找空中小姐及那两个醉汉聊天的第三个醉汉。 休息室里引起一场骚动。空中小姐赶紧跑到他的身边，注视着他。然后马上作急救。同时她要求室里的其他三个旅客留在原处，不得动地方。她拿了个垫子放在摔倒人的头下。然后到柜台后边，使用机内通话系统和机长联系。 几秒钟后机上一个男服务员从旋梯赶上来了。这架英国航空公司班机的机长也从驾驶舱里出来了。他们站在这个失去知觉的旅客身边，和空中小姐嘀咕了几句。 男服务员马上从旋梯下去，不到几分钟，又拿着一个硬纸板做的档案夹子走了上来。一看便知这是机上乘客姓名登记表。 机长转脸对休息室的其他几位旅客说：“请诸位都回到自己座位上去吧。我们有随机医生，他马上就来。有劳诸位了。” 赫克洛夫将半侧着身，沿着旋梯向下走。这时，只外一位空中小姐拿着一条毯子，迅速从他身边擦过。接着他听到机长对着机内通话器对报务员下指示：“告诉肯尼迪机场，准备好急救医疗用具。一个名叫索安屯的男乘客得了急病，大概是心脏病发作。” 那突然躺倒的乘客，直挺挺地睡在后排的长沙发椅上。医生单腿跪在他身边，他向机长要个手电简。机上的管带赶紧到驾驶舱里拿来一个。 医生把索安屯的眼皮往上翻，然后转过脸来，示意机长他要单独和他说话。 机长俯下身去，医生在他的耳边悄悄说：“这个人已经死了。这儿没有仪器，做不了组织和血液的分析，说不清他致死的原因。不过我看，他不是得心脏病死的，而是让人毒死的，我猜是用马钱子碱毒死的。” 海关稽查员办公室突然显得异常安静。在稽查员办公桌前的位子上。坐着纽约机场管理署警察厅的一名刑事侦探。他面前放着英国航空公司那次斑机乘客的名单。那个海关稽查员站在一边，颇有觳觫之态。靠墙边的两把椅子上，坐着747的机长和那位负责管理一等舱休息室的空中小姐。门边站着一名穿警服的警官。那位侦探用一种怀疑的眼神盯着稽查员。 侦探问他：“你刚才说，那架飞机着陆后，有两个人从机上下来，径直穿过那段禁止旅客通行的走廊，进入了有武装警卫、不准旅客进入的海关检查区，然后就不知去向了，对吗？” 稽查员现出不知所措的样子，晃着脑袋说：“是这样。不过我也不明白他们怎么就不知去向了。以前从未发生过这种事情。” 侦探转过身来问空中小姐：“小姐，你确确实实认为这两个人当时喝得大醉了？没看错吧？” 姑娘回答说：“当时我是这么认为的。不过，事后我又想了想，现在我就不这么认为了。他们俩当时确是喝了不少酒。这点我敢肯定，这个他们装不了假，因为一直是我替他们倒酒的。当时看起来他们是酩酊大醉了，不过没闹事。” “他们会不会把酒都偷偷倒掉了呢？我是说，他们并没真把酒喝下去。” 空中小姐问道：“他们会把酒倒在哪儿呢？” “这我就不知道了。比如说，把酒倒进大肚的烟灰缸里，椅子坐垫里，等等。机舱地板上铺的是什么？” 机反回答说：“铺的地毯。” 侦探对站在门边的那位警官说：“立刻用报话机和你手下的人联系，叫他们马上去检查机舱的地毯、椅子坐垫、烟灰缸。在靠近驾驶舱边用绳子隔开不让旅客进入的那一小片舱面的左侧，要特别注意检查。只要手摸着潮湿就行。查清了马上向我报告。” 警官说：“是！”马上带上门走了。 机长用一种不肯定的口气说道：“当然，人的酒量是不一样的。” 侦探说：“是不一样。不过要按这位小姐说的那个饮酒量，不论谁也得醉倒。” 机长说：“其实，这个案件与人的酒量是风马牛不相及的。现在明摆着的事情是：这两个人下飞机后，用你的话说，叫做'不知去向了'。他们应该就是杀人犯。我想这一切都是有预谋的。” 侦探说：“很难说酒量问题就一定跟这案件不相干。这和我们以前见过的某些案件，在手法上有相似之处。干我们这一行，什么意外情况都会碰到。有那么一帮心理反常的人，他们的精神是病态的，但是却很有钱。他们就喜欢坐了喷气式客机，到全世界游览．以寻找刺激。这也属于精神病的一种症状。还有些人是靠喝酒，也有些人是靠吸麻醉药品，总之是为了获得一种腾云驾雾似的快感，使自己的精神处在一种偷快的兴奋状态。就我们所知，我们现在注意的这两个人，和索安屯根本素不相识。这位空中小姐也说了，她亲自看见，他们三个人在一开始的时候，彼此都向对方作了自我介绍。那么他们俩为什么要谋杀他呢？而且，他们为什么要采取这么残酷的手段杀害他呢？他们用的是马钱子碱这种毒药。机长．你知道吗？用这种毒药杀人是非常残忍的。” 室内电话响了，稽查员去接电话。听对方说了几句后，他就把话筒交给侦探，说：“是国务院打给你的。” “国务院吗？我是纽约机场管理局警察厅的麦尔斯中校。我要的那个情况，你们弄清楚了吗？” 对方在电话里回答说：“情况倒是弄清楚了。不过，你对它恐怕不会再感兴趣了……” 麦尔斯中校打断对方说：“你先等一下。” 这时门开了，一个穿警服的警官走近来。中校问他：“查到什么了吗？” “休息室左边的地毯和椅子坐垫都湿透了。” 侦探不动声色地说：“这就是说，这两个人一点也没有喝。”他向警官点了一下头，又接着打电话：“国务院，你继续说吧，我怎么就会不感兴趣了？” “那两个人的护照在四年前就已经吊销了。这两张护照本是发给密执安州弗灵特地方的两个居民的。他们是邻居，都在底待律的同一家公司里供职。1973年6月，他们一起申请出国到欧洲去做买卖。他们去了以后，就再也没回美国。” “为什么把他们的护照吊销了？” “他们在国外的时候，突然有一天从旅馆失踪了。三天之后，从一条小溪里，捞上了他们的尸体。他们是让人开枪打死的。” “我的老天爷，那个小溪的名字叫什么？在什么地方？” “小溪叫益隆。那时候这俩人侨居在德国慕尼黑。” 591班机的旅客，个个怒气冲天，排着队，逐一通过机场检疫厅的卡口。 一个英国航空公司的工作人员，手里拿着一份747班机乘客名单，逐个地和591班机上乘客的姓名、住址、电话号码核对。在他旁边站着一名机场管理署的警察，手里则拿着747班机乘客名单的复印本，也在上面打记号。这么一来，这次检疫花费了大约四个小时。 出了检疫厅的乘客，沿着一条长廊，走到一个宽大的行李房，去领回经过检查的行李。然后，他们就可以离开机场。 其中有一个乘客，走到行李房以后，不朝出机场的方向走，也不去领行李，因为他没有行李。他只随身带了一件雨衣，就搭在胳博上。他径直往门上印有“美国海关中心站（闲人免进）”字样的办公室走去。 他在这办公室的门口出示证件后，就走了进去。 一个身穿海关高级官员服装、头发灰白的人，站在一个金属窗框的窗户跟前，吸着烟。他听见来人的脚步声，就转过身来，说道：“我一直在等你。你在那儿排队等检疫的过程中，我实在是没法帮你忙。” 进来的人回答说：“我带着特工人员身分证呢，也是为了以防万一你不在这儿。”说着他把身分证放回到他上衣口袋里去。 “你必须随身带着它。说不定你还用得着它。现在，这儿到处都布满了警察。你下一步打算怎么办？” “到那架飞机的停机坪去。” “你估计那两个人会在那儿吗？” “对。他们会在那一带的。这是唯一的可能性。” 于是，这两个人离开办公室，迅速走过行李房门口，经过数不尽的传送带，终于走到一扇铁门跟前。门上写着“外人免进”的字样。这位海关高级官员拿出一把钥匙，开了铁门，他自己先进去；接着，那位拿雨衣的年轻人也跟着走了进去；里面是个水泥构筑的长隧道，直接通往停机坪。 他们走了四十秒钟，到了另一扇铁门。这扇门有两个人把守着。一个是美国海关上的人，另一个是机场管理署警察厅的人。 海关上的人认识这个灰白头发的老头，就向他打招呼说：“长官，你好哇。今天夜里可够忙的呀。” 老头回答说：“我看，好戏才开始呢。后面有的瞧的。早晚非把我们也卷进去不可。”他转脸冲着那个警察厅的人说，“我带来的这个人是联邦调查局的。”说话的时候，他脸向手持雨衣的人一扬；接着又说：“我现在要把他带到591飞机上去。那架机上有吸毒嫌疑犯。” 警察厅的人似乎觉得有点为难。因为他奉命看守这扇门，不准任何人进出。这时候，海关上的那个门卫说话了：“看你这个人，整个肯尼迪机场都属他管，你怎么就不放他过去呢？” 警察厅的人耸耸肩膀，就把门打开了。 外面的夜空正一个劲地下着雨。从牙买加海湾那边吹过来的一阵阵雾汽，笼罩着机场。 带雨衣的人把雨衣穿上。他的动作极为敏捷，那搭雨衣的手里，其实是拿着一支手枪，雨衣把它盖住了。现在他把枪插进腰带里，把雨衣腰间的纽扣敞开。 747飞机在泛光灯的照耀下反射出晃眼的光芒。雨水沿着飞机的胴体，象几十道小溪似地向地下倾注。到处都是警察和地勤保养人员。这两种人外表的区别就在于：前者穿黑雨衣，后者则穿桔黄色雨衣。 一辆机场的汽车，载着舷梯，停在747的舱门下边。舷梯口和机门对接在一起。 那老头指着舷梯，对他的伙伴说：“我爬上去，进入飞机里面，找到在里面值勤的警察，向他们交代好了，省得他们来找你的麻烦。祝你马到成功。” 后者听了老头的话，点点头。其实他并没有认真听老头说些什么。他两眼正专心致志地查看这块地方。 离那架747各三十码的四个角上，各立了一根标柱。标柱之间用纸索连了起来，形成一个正方形的警戒区。每两根标柱之间立着一名警察。 穿雨衣的人现在已经走进这个警戒区了，到了这里面，他的行动就没有人干涉了。他沿着绳索，走到了飞机的尾部。并且边走边向站着的值勤警官点头。对有些拿怀疑目光看他的警官，他就显出一副很随便的样子，把他的特工人员身分证亮给对方看。 在雨中他仔细地辨认从飞机里进进出出的每个地勤保养人员的面貌。他绕飞机走了多半圈的时候，听到一个保养人员怒喊道：“你他妈的躲在一边干什么？快去给我把绞车固定好。” 被申斥的是一个穿保养人员工作服的人。他正站在一辆加油车的油罐架上，身上没穿雨衣。他的白色工作服，已被雨淋透了。加油车的驾驶室里还坐着一个保养人员，同样也没穿雨衣。 穿雨衣的人一看这光景便明白了。他想：原来这两个杀人犯就在这里，他们一定是事先把保养工作服穿在里面，外面再罩上便服。到紧急关头，他们把便服脱掉，便可以混在飞机保养人员中间，不至于被人认出来了。可是他们没料到天会下雨。这两个凶手仅仅由于这一着失算，现在才露了马脚；否则他们的这一套逃遁伎俩，倒是满高明的。 穿雨衣的人往加油车走去．他的手指头按在隐藏在雨衣下面的手枪扳机上。在雨中，他双眼紧盯着加油车驾驶室的挡风玻璃。透过玻璃可以看到坐在里面的那个人。这时，站在油罐架上的那个杀人凶手是背对着加油车的前方。由于他站在油罐架上，所以位置比地面高得多。穿雨衣的人正从左面接近他。 坐在驾驶室里的那个凶手，用狐疑的目光注视着他向他靠近，而且马上警觉起来，往驾驶室的另一侧俯卧下去。可是穿雨衣的人动作更快，他一把拉开驾驶室的门，马上向里面的人开了一枪。他的左轮是带有消音器的。里面那人中弹后，马上就扑倒在仪表盘上，前额上血流如注。 站在油罐架上的那个凶手，听到驾驶室里扑打的声音，马上转过身来，从油罐架上往下瞧，他不禁脱口而出说：“原来是你，你在747飞机休息室里，装着看报纸！” 穿雨衣的人用命令的口气对他说：“下来，到驾驶室里来。” 尽管外面大雨滂沱，可是对方完全听清了他的话。 他持枪的手就隐藏在驾驶室的门后面。当站在油罐架上的人还在犹豫不决的时候，持左轮的人迅速地环视周围，只见那些警察被大雨浇得无暇他顾，泛光灯又晃晕了他们的眼。他们毫未觉察眼前已经出了人命案。持左轮的人猛一探身，一把抓住了油罐架上那人的白色工作服，把他拖进了驾驶室的门框。 他不慌不忙地对那人说，“你听着，你们失败了。海因列希·克罗森的儿子仍然健在。”说完他朝他开了一枪。这两个用毒药杀人的凶手，一起死在驾驶室里的座位上。 穿雨衣的人走下驾驶室，把门关好，把手枪插回腰带里，装作一副若无其事的样子走了。他直接从机身底下穿过，沿着一条用绳索隔开来的专门通道，朝着他来时的水泥隧道走去。这时，他看到那位灰白头发的海关高级官员，正从747的舱门口出来，迅速地下了舷梯。他们又会合在一起，朝隧道的入口走去。 灰白头发的老头问道：“如何？” “我马到成功了。我们的对手一败涂地了。现在的问题是：我们该拿赫克洛夫特怎么办？” “那就不是我们的责任了。那是鸩鸟的事了。今夜的一切情况必须通报给鸩鸟。” 穿雨衣的人暗暗一笑。他知道在这瓢泼大雨中，老头是看不见他这一笑的。