Frank Tallis - Vienna Blood

“Very well, then,” continued Rheinhardt, responding to his friend's hesitation. “How about… Litany for the Feast of All Souls?”

This was another Schubert setting, similar in atmosphere to An die Musik, but with words by the poet Johann Georg Jacobi.

Liebermann rearranged the songbooks on the music stand and brought a Schubert collection to the front. He flicked through the volume in search of the right page.

“The Feast of All Souls…,” he said, abstractedly. “That's around this time of year, isn't it?” He could barely remember the dates of Jewish festivals, let alone those celebrated by the Catholic Church. However, he had some vague notion that All Souls fell around the beginning of winter.

“Yes,” said Rheinhardt, “it's in a few weeks, in fact. The second of November.”

“Here it is,” said Liebermann, smoothing out the page. The piano part had been annotated in pencil where Liebermann had changed some of the fingering and phrasing.

The young doctor looked up at his friend to see if he was ready, and then began. The music immediately suggested majesty and gentle progress. Rheinhardt opened his mouth and, crossing his hands over his heart, sang softly: “Ruhn in Frieden alle Seelen.” Rest in peace all souls.

The accompaniment drifted through some artful changes of harmony, making the melody more poignant. Even though the music was peaceful, the chord changes seemed to reveal the presence of an underlying aching sadness. Rheinhardt's voice became more confident, more controlled, and he accomplished the higher notes with little trouble. Liebermann was surprised by the sudden improvement of tone. He was even more impressed when Rheinhardt's baritone floated above the accompaniment and enjoyed a moment of near-unbearable sweetness-seemingly removed from all worldly suffering. But, as was so often the case with Schubert's composition, this moment of transcendent vision was all too brief, and the demands of the score forced Rheinhardt to surrender one note, then another, then another, until the descending sequence arrived at a prolonged, empty caesura. It was Schubert's genius to place a beat of chilling silence-as still as death, as cold as eternity-within the first verse.

When Liebermann looked up to see if his friend was ready to begin again, he noticed that Rheinhardt's eyes were brimming. The inspector was oddly transported, but he was also sufficiently aware of his surroundings to register Liebermann's attentiveness. Once more, pressing his hand against his heart, Rheinhardt filled the room with plaintive melody. “Ruhn in Frieden alle Seelen.” Rest in peace all souls.

Rheinhardt's rendition of the next verse was even more powerful. When Liebermann had played the final chord, he lifted his hands from the keyboard and respectfully bowed his head. Rheinhardt sniffed once, and Liebermann allowed his friend sufficient time to wipe the tears from his eyes. It was not unusual for Rheinhardt-or Liebermann, for that matter-to be moved to tears by music, but on this occasion the outpouring was so sudden, and so unexpected, that the young doctor could not help speculating about why this should be.

“Well, Oskar,” said Liebermann, closing the songbook and still not looking directly at his friend, “You certainly found your voice in the end. That was exquisite…”

“Thank you, Max,” said Rheinhardt. “It seemed to just… come back.”

The inspector sounded a little bemused.

As was their custom at the end of every musical evening, the two men walked through the double doors leading to the paneled smoking room. Liebermann's manservant, Ernst, had discreetly performed his duties. The fire was roaring, and on Liebermann's new, very modern-looking Moser table the servant had laid out a decanter of brandy, crystal glasses, and two freshly cut cigars. The table, a hollow black cube with an ebony top, was flanked by more traditional armchairs. Rheinhardt lowered himself into the right-hand one, and Liebermann the left. Their respective seating preferences, never negotiated nor commented upon, were-like the sleeping positions of a long-married couple-invariant.

Liebermann poured the brandy and offered his friend a cigar. A few small pleasantries were exchanged before the two men settled down and stared into the fire. Several minutes passed and the room filled with pungent cigar smoke. Finally, Liebermann spoke.

“I am in no doubt, Oskar, that tonight you intend to consult me with respect to a murder inquiry. In spite of your many years at the security office, I think it fair to say that corpses still cause you considerable distress; however, on this particular occasion, I am convinced that you witnessed a scene that was unusually disturbing. In fact, it may be that you have had to examine not just one but two murder scenes. If not, then you have certainly been exposed to more than one body. The exact number is difficult to ascertain, but I think

… two. I am very confident that these bodies were, first, female, second, young, and third, that these young women met with deaths remarkable for their violence.”

Rheinhardt sipped his brandy and said, “Not bad, Max. Not bad at all.”

“I was wrong in some detail?”

“The number of bodies.”

“I see. There were more than two, then?”

“Indeed. There were four.”

“Four?” Liebermann cried out in disbelief.

“Yes-and although you were correct in deducing that most were young, the first was, in fact, middle-aged.”

Liebermann exhaled a cloud of cigar smoke. He looked mildly disappointed.

“Come now,” said Rheinhardt. “You were right in all respects bar a few particulars. I have visited the scene of a vicious multiple murder, and the victims were-as you determined-all women. How did you do it?”

“Well…,” Liebermann replied. “It was the sudden improvement in your singing that attracted my interest. You claimed to be experiencing some problems with pitch in the upper register, but- with the greatest respect-every aspect of your performance this evening was deficient or strained.”

“I couldn't agree more,” said Rheinhardt, shaking his head contritely.

“It was as though your throat were too tight,” continued Liebermann. “I had attributed this loss of tone to the cold weather, but your rendition of Schubert's Litany for the Feast of All Souls was so wonderful, so magnificent, so perfect, that I was forced to question my previous thinking. If your voice had really been impaired by the cold, it would not have recovered so dramatically. I subsequently wondered whether this tightness might be due to some psychological factor? Now, you must have noticed how when people become anxious or are placed under duress their voices become thin? Well, I surmised that something very similar was happening to you. By paying close attention to the music, you were able to keep a memory-an upsetting memory-out of your conscious mind. But it was still exerting an influence, still creating levels of tension sufficient to affect the quality of your voice.

“To end our little concert you chose to sing Schubert's Litany for the Feast of All Souls, the subject of which is, of course, souls-plural-leaving the world behind to be granted eternal rest. From this I inferred that you had recently seen more than just one body, and that these unfortunate individuals had been the victims of some great violence. Why else would you be so anxious that they should be granted eternal rest?

“The combination of Schubert's music and Jacobi's words allowed you to give expression to feelings that were hitherto repressed, and as a result, the song was cathartic and your voice was immediately restored to its former glory.”

Rheinhardt looked perplexed. “But you seem to have based your deductions on an erroneous supposition: that I am able to remember all of Jacobi's words, and the fact is that I can't. Rest in peace, all souls who, a fearful torment past… and-No, you see? I can't do it. Now, I accept that the song itself is uncannily appropriate, given my recent experiences… but when I made the choice, there was nothing on my mind save the apparent technical limitations of my voice.”