Chapter 29 Eight

38 "What are you going to do now?" asked my friend, lawyer Dr. Paul Fontana.It is now seventeen o'clock on the same day.Fontana's long, smooth face was as usual, revealing nothing of his inner workings.He ran one hand through his brown, wire-like hair combed back.I told him everything about my relationship with Gustav Brandenburg. "I'm flying back to Cannes," I said, "tomorrow. Once I get the written notice from Universal." He stared at me for a long time. "What's up?" "Robert," he said, "the court rejected our petition for divorce, as Bochet reckoned. Naturally. I was worried. Poor you."

"Oh no," I said. "Oh yes," he said, "you're only getting part of your salary now. You're sick, and you're talking about it yourself. What the future is going to bring to you is... not good. As a human being I understand You, but as a lawyer I have to condemn you, you didn't listen to my advice and sent money to your wife...don't look at me like that, I spoke to her lawyer on the phone and he told me." "That's the end of the matter," I said. He shook his head. "No, it didn't stop there! You did something like a self-assessment that was supposed to be done by a court. If you remember, I tried to take your wife to court. Now you offer her fifteen thousand , pay rent and insurance. Since your income has dropped, I'm going to try to go to court and ask you to pay less than what you've voluntarily paid so far. I hope I can. As I said, you did a self-assessment. Its effect on your wife's reluctance to divorce is not insignificant." He picked his pipe, "Why don't you take my urgent advice to do so, Robert?"

"Because of superstition. She agrees." "Her? I see. No," whispered Fontana. "I don't believe in superstition. You do it. Because you're a decent person—and so is this woman. You can't bear the thought, Karin..." "Stop talking." I said. "If you don't do what the lawyer says, what do you ask him to do?" Fontana asked. "Calm down, I'm your friend, and I'm still your friend. It's just that I can hardly help you now. What will happen after the three-year period expires is still unknown." "It doesn't matter to us, Angera and I. We don't care at all," I said. "We are not separated, no matter what."

"Did she say that?" asked Fontana, emptying and refilling his pipe. "right." "What a wonderful woman, Robert." "As great as yours," I said. Fontana lit the tobacco again. "I'm going to try to keep Karin's cost of living down. Whether I can make it is another matter. You may have to appear in court here when the date is set. The judge wants to see both sides. My plans are ruined by you. Karin Really never filed for divorce." "You know, I have another plan," I said, "but I can't tell." "I'm not mad at you, just sad for you."

"You don't have to. When I'm happy, I'm happy too," I said. "I can only have a bright future." "Here!" he said. "It is! Only brilliant." I said. A female secretary took the mail sent to the "Intercontinental Hotel" and picked it up here during this period, and packed it in a nylon bag.There is quite a lot of mail.I plan to go to the hotel and ask them to have all my letters forwarded to Angera's address. "Well, something else," I said, "I need a notary in Cannes. Do you happen to know a good, reliable one there?"

"I think I do know one. Wait a minute..." Fontana searched in a large address book, and he gave me the name and address of the notary in Cannes.I finally said goodbye to Fontana.He shook my hand repeatedly as he accompanied me to the door of the office. "When shall we meet again?" he asked. "Here, when I have to appear in court." "I didn't ask that. You know what I mean. Goodbye...a real goodbye, at my house, with my wife, and with your lover." I fell silent. "It's probably never going to be possible." "Absolutely," I said, "what's the matter, Pavel? We're definitely going to visit you." I said, thinking, we'll never see each other again, no, never.Now everything is finally broken.There is nothing stopping me here anymore, there is no road back to Germany.I'm happy about it.Fontana walks me to the elevator doors.He's never done that before.There are two parties sitting in the waiting room.

"Happiness," he said, "I wish you happiness, my old friend. Very few embrace it. Most fall. If you fall, it will be dreadful to me." "I won't," I said. The elevator appeared behind opalescent glass.I open the door. "Everything is going well," said Fontana in a strange hoarse voice. "Now you go in!" I got into the elevator and looked at Fontana for a while longer.He was tall, lean and always composed.His face twitched.Then the elevator doors closed.I press the button on the ground floor and go down.I never saw Paul Fontana again. 39 I walked a long way through the streets of Düsseldorf.I looked at everything carefully, like a tourist, as if I had never seen those churches, banks, museums, hotels, theaters, parks, big shops on King Street, elevated roads and traffic.I watched it all, heard it with a Rhine accent, and I knew I would never see or hear it again.No, never again, because I'm not going to be negotiating living expenses.I have completely different plans now.This afternoon, I bid farewell to Düsseldorf.

I was tired and took a taxi back to the hotel.I told a doorman that I wanted to move out tomorrow and needed a moving company to pack and ship everything I had in the suite.The doorman promised that he would try to find such a company by tomorrow morning.I gave Angera's address to him and told him to forward all my mail there. "Very well, Mr. Lucas. I am sorry that you have to leave us again." I went upstairs to my suite, sat by the large window in the living room, and watched for a while the planes landing and taking off at Lohausen Airport.The night came late this summer evening.I order a bottle of whiskey on the rocks and soda, and I open one by one to read my mail while I drink.There are many very interesting letters in it.I tore them up one by one, because I am now entering a new life, and I am not going to reply to one.I saw the bank notification.After I withdraw the 80,000, there is only a small amount left in the account, but it will soon be more than enough to give Karin no matter how much the court awards.

The doorman called.There was a messenger in the hall with a large envelope. "Please let him come up," I said.The young man came and I tipped him and opened the envelope.It was the retirement contract of Universal Insurance Company.It thanked me for my loyal and dedicated service over the years, wished me all the best, especially my health, and asked me if it would be okay for me to have my retirement pension transferred to my account in the same way as my previous salary.If I do not object, the money will be sent as it has been done so far.I don't want to say anything more to Universal Insurance.

So I tore up the letters one by one, none of which I wanted or had to reply.It suddenly occurred to me that I had nothing to do here in Germany.In Cannes, yeah, I still have things to do there.But what about in Germany?Nothing.In the end, I also had a card made out of craft paper in my hand.Someone I can't remember announced he was married.It was a very witty, elegant advert.I stared at it for a long time, then picked up the receiver and asked to speak to Cannes. Angela will come to pick her up in a moment. "Robert! How are you?" "great." "You've been drinking, Robert."

"Yeah," I said, "I'm going to drink more. Everything's going well here, and I'm happy to drink." "Is it your company?" "My company over there, yes." "They were very impressed with what you found?" "Very impressive," I said effortlessly. "Impressively impressed. They especially complimented me...complimented...how do you say it?" "Please don't drink so much, Robert." "Just for fun, you know. What are you doing?" "Painting," said Angera. "Did I already tell you I love you?" "When are you coming home?" home, she said.Home... "I'll try to get a plane ticket for tomorrow afternoon." "Can't it be earlier?" "cannot." "Why not?" "I still have to wait for a shipping company. I'm going to bring everything I took from home to Cannes when I left. Is that okay?" She cried out with joy. "Oh, Robert! You came to me at last?" "Eventually," I said, "yes." But I had to be cautious, "I mean, I'm living in Cannes from now on. If they're going to send me out on any case, it's from Cannes. I'll always Back to Cannes." "Come back to me." "Back to you. I explained it at the company. They agreed. First I have to deal with the case, don't I?" "Yes, Robert, yes. Geez, I'm so excited..." "Are you staying home today?" "Yes, why?" "Because I'm still going to drink it. Chances are I'll call you again, or maybe twice. It's pretty safe to say." "Call me as many times as you want. No matter how late it is, I'll wait for your call." Angela said. I continued to sit by the window and watched the day slowly give way to night as the lights in and around the airport burst into flames.I continued to drink slowly, thinking in detail about what I would have to do when I got back to Cannes.It's not difficult at all. I had my supper brought to my room, after which I drank another bottle and called Angera again.I got even more drunk that night, and called Angera again.A total of four times, the last time was three o'clock in the morning. 40 On the next day, at 9:00 a.m., a person from the moving company that the doorman had found for me came.There were three people—two of them college students—who deftly packed my clothes and all my belongings from my house into two large boxes.The third person, an older and shorter man, finished the formalities with me.I told him the address the boxes were going to, signed and prepaid a fee on separate paper.Everything went very quickly.College students carefully wrap each box so that nothing breaks.Those young people are very cute.I'm not quite sober from last night, but I feel good. Two hours later, those few people and the box disappeared.I packed the rest of the things into my suitcase and put them on.I have lunch in the restaurant.My plane took off at 15:30 and stopped in Zurich.I gave the car ID and keys to the head doorman and told him to sell the Admiral parked in front of the hotel, keep ten percent for myself, and transfer the rest to my bank account. This time the flight navigator is not working "according to the system".We took off normally and it went very well.Düsseldorf is sunny and Zurich is sunny.The sky over Nice is overcast, and the Mistral wind is still howling.When I stepped out of the plane, I saw Angera on the second viewing platform.Later in the hall, we ran towards each other like we used to, faster and faster, panting more and more as we ran. We didn't drive along the sea wall this time because Angera said it was flooded.We took the highway and had to stop at a tollbooth.The wind howled around the Mercedes, shaking the heavy car slightly.The palm trees beside the carriageway were deeply drooping and some were broken.I feel my head hurting.Angera looked like she had stayed up all night.She has deep circles under her eyes.She was wearing the brown trousers and the olive green trench coat again. We arrived in Cannes and went to Angera's house.I put down my suitcase.Above this, Mystra wind howled and wailed, and there was a draft in the room.I saw that all the flowers and plants on the platform were flying in the strong wind.The sea was restless and as black as the sky.With difficulty, I opened a glass door leading to the landing and stepped outside.The wind nearly knocked me down.I take a deep breath.Then I felt Angela's hand on my shoulder.I turn around.Tears streamed down her face. "Angela...Angela..." I couldn't help shouting, "What's the matter with you, Angera?" She put her mouth against my ear. "Nothing... Nothing at all... It's the damned Mistral... I told you, it drives everybody crazy... It's the third day now... Oh, Robert, Robert... ...you'll never leave me... ever, will you? This... I can't stand this..." I saw the Mistral wind blow away the flowering vines. I pulled Angera onto the wide bed that leaned against the wall of the platform.We both lost control very quickly.My heart suddenly stings, but I don't care. 41 "I'm a weak sick woman," complained Ild Hermann. "I don't know business. I hope that Mr. Seeberg will stay with me." "I wish, Mr. Seeberg, to leave us alone," I said. "The business I want to discuss with you is well-versed in you, Mrs. Hermann." It was on Monday, June 26th, around sixteen o'clock. I'm back in Cannes on Saturday.Angera and I spent Sundays alone, mostly lying on the terrace.The Mistral wind was gone, the sky was blue, and it was hot again.I had an appointment with Diamond Yard on Sunday—today, Monday.I said I wanted to talk to her alone.But now, she was sitting on her bed, wearing a little clip over her pajamas as usual.Beside her stood the handsome Plenipotentiary with cold eyes.He said: "I am Mrs. Hermann's confidant. If you don't want to speak in my presence, you must go, Mr. Lucas." But the days when I would be bossed around are over.That's the good thing about being without a conscience, I think. "If you don't withdraw for a while," I said to Seeberg, "I won't talk to Frau Hermann at all, but to the police." I wait for the effect.The effect is as I expected. "Leave us alone," said Diamond Yard. "Very well, ma'am," said Zeberg. "You can tell him all about it afterwards," I said, as the young man left the bedroom, which smelled of flowers as usual. "Of course you'll tell him everything. It's not just him, I understand. But first I want to talk to you alone." "About what?" "Talk about murder," I said, "multiple murders." Her pink albino eyes blinked.This is the only response.She sits upright on her rococo bed, and today wears an ornate necklace of emeralds and diamonds.Earrings dangled from Earl's ears, with a large pear-shaped emerald on each side.The hair set is right this time. "What murder?" asked Ild. "What multiple murders?" I sit on the edge of the bed. "Your murder, Frau Hermann," I said, "your multiple murders." This morning I went to the office to meet Charles Ribelle, the notary recommended to me by Paul Fontana.He was about fifty years of age, and seemed particularly trustworthy, honest and trustworthy... "Sir," I said to him, "I will only speak to you by my name if you tell me you can accept my case. " His eyebrows are raised. "That's a little unusual, sir!" "I know. Listen, I have some pictures and a tape in these envelopes. You must see the pictures and hear the tape before you vouch for me?" "No." "Good. I think we'll seal these envelopes together, and hire a safe at a bank. You and I shall each be given a key and power of attorney to remove these envelopes from the safe at any time. Can we do that?" "Yes." Li Baile said. "Very well. In a few days I will also bring you an envelope containing a manuscript. We will put that in the safe as well. That's it, now listen: if I die, you will have everything in the safe Take them all out and fly them to Zurich. Please hold an international press conference there and present these materials. Then, please hand them over to Interpol. Understand?" "Understood, sir." "But you have to wait for my death to be proven, and it must be a violent death. If I died a natural death, you don't have to do anything, do nothing. The thing stays where it is." "forever?" "Forever. No, not forever. I'll tell you my name now. My name is Robert Lucas." His eyebrows went up again, but that was all. "If, after my death, a Mrs. Angela Delphia..." I reported the detailed address, he raised his eyebrows and wrote it down, "... died unexpectedly, then these materials can be published, and follow me Same, now you know who I am. If you follow Cannes, you must know my name, and Madame Delphia's." "I know your name, Mr. Lucas." Libelle said, "I am also familiar with other names related to you." "Can we go to the bank right now?" "Okay." The notary Libeile is a very introverted person. We went to the National Bank of Paris on nearby Rue Butola and rented a bank safe in our names.Everyone gets a key.We walked back through the heat to Ribeil's cool, hazy office, and I gave him a corresponding written carte blanche.Then, I also asked him for a favor, which he promised to do.Then I drove to Diamond Ild, sitting on the edge of her bed. "What murder?" asked Ild. "What multiple murders?" "Your murder, Frau Hermann," I said, "your multiple murders." "Are you crazy!" "I'm not crazy, Frau Hermann." Never in my life have I been so determined, so unscrupulous. "You're more like crazy. You're somewhere in between, I guess. You're crazy about money and power and wealth. You can't have enough of what you have. You want more, the more the better. You hate your brother..." "Hate? I love him!" she shouted like a play. "...it's like the plague. You want the bank. You want everything he has. You come up with a plan. I'm sure you came up with the plan. You find out that your plenipotentiary, Zeberg, is a voluntary Helper, you promised to run the bank in partnership with him. The plan was ecstatic when the members of Codd & Co. formed—Fabian, Towell, Sagantana, Kilwood, and Tenedos. Your brother abided by With his traditional morals, he was already a thorn in your side. So Zeberg engineered that sterling business, and it turned out that the model worked." "What proves that the pattern works?" the voice screamed. "Aha, shut up," I said, "you and your friends don't think any chance is too dirty, no crisis is too serious. There have been enough chances and crises since the end of the war. First the francs don't Steady, then the lira, the dollar keeps falling—especially the dollar, and you take advantage of your crazy fortunes while it's falling!" I kept getting annoyed, "I admire you for all your whims! The Concern of the United States does as he pleases. The ordinary honest citizen of the United States is not allowed to buy German stocks at will. When he invests abroad, he has to pay taxes! You don't have to! You have Codt, a multinational company on German soil! Among other Subsidiaries in many countries! This way you can - very legally - escape all foreign exchange regulations and tax laws! This way you can jump over all hoops! Your brother, Mrs. Hermann, has always been a noble ad Cards! This will never be the case. Your brother, I am sure, never could have imagined what was going on behind his back until he later learned about it through the pound business. He was desperate. He flew here immediately to find you All of you. All of you—just without you, his sister. I don't think he realized until the end that you were his worst enemy. You've now worked out a perfect criminal plan, and everyone has his own. Special mission. Your soil guard is in charge of the explosives of the timed blaster, and Tenedos has someone to install the electrical equipment..." "You're crazy," whispered Ild.When she turned her head quickly, the jewelry she wore sparkled. "Crazy, you! I'm going to have you thrown out! I'm going to call the police..." She grabbed the phone receiver.The phone is next to the bed.I looked at her calmly.Her hand rested on the receiver.She didn't pick it up.I continued to stare at her.She finally took her hand away from the receiver. "It's better this way." I looked at my watch.Now the phone will ring in no time. "Everyone does their own thing, and hired a professional killer. But what's left to your sister is to install a time bomb on the yacht." "It's just crazy! Crazy!" "It's true. I can prove it to you with photographs and surreptitious conversations on tape. I even have photographs of you installing that time bomb." I reached into my bag, pulled out a photograph, and Let it fall on the rug in front of me.Elder jumped out of bed with great agility and picked up the photo.She stares at it.It was a postcard showing a view from Cannes, and Ild Herrmann let out a rude curse and stared at me with hatred. "I just want to see if you are really so weak, Frau Hermann. You are very healthy, healthier than some people." She fell back on the bed and covered herself with the quilt. "You dirty pig," she said. The phone rang, and finally it came, I thought. "I am Charles Libelle, the notary. Is it Madame Hermann?" "Yes." She sighed. "Is Mr. Lucas in your house, ma'am?" "right……" "He asked me to call you now. I have been entrusted to tell you that he has deposited with me a set of photographs and a tape in a bank safe. Under certain conditions, Mr. Lucas will now To explain to you, I will release the contents of the safe and related items to the international press and Interpol. Madam, please accept my special respect." The conversation ended. Elder stared at me. "How do I know it's not one of your partners? How do I know you're not scamming?" "You call the notary of Libelle," I said, "or you don't believe me. Then everything will be much faster." "What... what's in the photo?" "All of you . "It's dark in there," she said, biting her lip. "The guy who took the picture had an infrared camera," I said. "Oh," said Ild, "you are a blackmailer." "Yes, Mrs. Hermann." "This will be of interest to the police and your company." "Of course," I said, "of course." I picked up the receiver and started dialing. "What are you doing?" "I'm calling the Central Precinct." She pressed the hook.Her pink, albino eyes had that look of panic I'd seen before—horror beyond description.She asked in a low voice, "What do you want?" "A written confession, Mrs. Hermann. All details about all those involved." "This... I can't!" "You must be able to." "I really can't!" "Why not?" "Because I don't know enough... I don't know who Kilwood and Tenedos hired as killers." "Then leave him alone and write out the rest in detail. Please hurry up. Every day counts. I want to have your confession next Monday. I want something beforehand." "what?" "Universal Insurance will pay for the Moonlight Boat," I said. "Fifteen million Deutschmarks. I want fifteen million." 42 "You are mad...you must be mad," whispered Ild Hermann.I stood up, flipped the switch, and the fluorescent tubes came on.It shines on the portrait painted by Angela for Ilde Hermann.Then I thought how much I loved Angera, and that after my death I must keep her safe.How I do it doesn't matter to me, it doesn't matter at all.The portrait is lifelike.I watch.I watched Ild as she fell back on her pillow. "Fifteen millions . . . where do you keep them? People will ask you where you got the money! You're throwing yourself into a trap." "Oh no," I said. "Light. Please turn off the light." I flipped the switch and sat down on the edge of the bed again. "The money is wired into Switzerland, Mrs. Hermann, to an account. I'm in Zurich on Thursday and look forward to getting the money there then." "How did you even think of it? Such a large sum! How did I get so much money so quickly without attracting attention?" "You have an industrious plenipotentiary," I said, "that will be easy for him. I'm going to deposit the fifteen million in an account with a bank where you have a large fortune. This transaction That's easier. I didn't ask for fifteen million cash to be sent to Zurich for me. I didn't even ask Mr. Seeberg to go to Zurich himself." I've checked the airline timetables and booked the ticket. "I'm at the Lakeside Hotel at ten o'clock on Thursday morning. If the man you authorized me to pay doesn't show up by ten-thirty, you can consider our business to be blown." "It absolutely won't work in terms of time, this..." "You shut up," I said, "time will work. Mrs. Hermann, if you don't do what I say, and if the press gets wind of it, it won't matter how powerful you are, especially your friends— — the truth will not be suppressed by intimidation and terror as it has hitherto. There are several gentlemen who will spend the rest of their lives in prison—you first of all.” "I'm not going to jail! I'd rather kill myself!" "You'd rather pay. I haven't finished. Apart from this fifteen million which I have for emergency purposes, I ask you to pay fifty thousand francs a month from now till my death. I will tell you how it will be paid." .If any payment is delayed for more than ten days, if I die, if you want to kill me... You heard from Libele, what will happen then. Fifteen thousand for you and your friends What's a million and this other little sum? You can share it. Compared to maintaining a name, your bank, Co. De Co., your liberty--and continuing to do such a dirty business that has hitherto been done for it What is it? And of course a much dirtier business!" Hilde Hermann said: "You should die. You should die slowly, you should die in pain, more pain than ever in the world." "You shouldn't want me to do this, Mrs. Herman." I said, "If this happens because of your responsibility, you are finished." I stood up, "I'll wait until tomorrow night, when you call me , a client of yours will meet me at the 'Lakeside' Hotel at forty o'clock on Thursday. Please call the 'Majestic' Hotel. Or you will have someone else call. You just say, the meeting place will remain the same." Her hands kept rubbing back and forth on the sheets.Her eyes were half-closed and her breathing was constricted. "As for the monthly payments, I'll also tell you how I want to do it—at least the first few, until things are in order. By the way, in Zurich, I want your cronies to give me eight One hundred thousand marks, and I will deposit them into an account. Then we shall meet again. The second time I ask that 14,200,000 be transferred to that account." "Why do you want to do this?" "Because I won't be alone the first time, I don't want my companion to know the high amount in the account. The second time I meet, I will be alone." "That Delphia," said Ild. "You want to take that Delphia and let her sign the account together." "Correct," I said, "as you all know and have told my company, we are in love. In case something happens to me, I don't want Lady Delphia to suffer. The money is reserved for Hers, but she doesn't need to know about it now." "You are a devil!" "And you're a murderess. I've just lost my job, Mrs. Hermann. I don't care about anyone anymore. Please don't forget that I want your confession next Monday. If I don't get it, I'll Don't care about the money, give my material to the press and Interpol. I don't know how long you'll be in jail. Some of you will be there until very old. I'm leaving you now. Your name is Zebe Come in, Mr. Gug, and tell him all about it. I'm sure he'll be eager to advise you to take my advice. Please inform the others. They'll all agree with Seeberg. Well, I'll wait at the Majestic. Your phone number. Needless to say, if you want to tell Lady Delphia about the deal, I will also notify the press. Got it?" She was silent. "I want you to explain whether you understand!" "Obviously...obviously." She inhaled, "I...hate...you..." "Hate it, hate it." I said. Suddenly she cried like a madman: "But not as much as I hate my brother! No, not as much as I hate him! I never hated anyone as much as I hated my brother! Never hated anyone like that!" She couldn't breathe. Zeberg barged in. "My God, what's going on?" "Ma'am will tell you in a moment," I said. "Goodbye, Mrs. Hermann. Goodbye, Mr. Seeberg." I left the bedroom.A servant leads me silently through the house and down the stairs to the foyer, where a covered jeep is parked outside.It was a very hot day again, but I even found the heat quite comfortable.I got into the jeep, and another servant behind the wheel rolled off.I leaned back in my seat, feeling good, very good.When passing by, I saw the double-faced statue with a big flower and bird perched on it.