Frank Tallis: Vienna Blood

The snake was enormous-a mythical beast, a sea serpent or basilisk. But its dimensions were exaggerated still further by the odd way in which the creature had been mutilated.

“Hildegard,” said the director.

Rheinhardt thought that he detected a slight catch in the director's voice. He did not find it difficult to sympathize with his companion.

The snake had been cut into three sections: head, trunk, and tail. These body parts were ordered correctly, perfectly aligned, and separated by gaps of approximately one yard-they had been arranged in a curve that followed the arc of the water's edge. The effect was striking and curiously aesthetic. Taken together, the three segments were longer than a streetcar. The central section had a diameter wide enough to accommodate a small child.

When the two men had completed their descent, Rheinhardt clambered onto a large rock near the snake's head. Hildegard's eyes and nostrils were set high up on her flat pointed skull, and a delicate forked tongue protruded from between powerful jaws that had been propped open with a small stone. The device seemed to serve no purpose other than artistic effect. Her skin was green-the same shade as the water-and mottled with black egg-shaped patches. Rheinhardt was fascinated by the textured surface, each scale a tiny blister of jet or obsidian. The snake's innards were revealed in vivid cross section where the central segment had been cleanly sliced.

“Extraordinary,” said Rheinhardt. “Quite extraordinary.”

“It must have been a madman,” cried the director. “A lunatic escaped from Am Steinhof.”

The soil around the water's edge was light brown and stained with dark splashes of ophidian ichor.

“Is it a python?” asked Rheinhardt.

“Good heavens, no,” said the director. Hildegard is-was-an anaconda, a water boa.”

“Nonvenomous?”

“Quite so. Eunectes murinus is a constrictor. In the wild, murinus lies submerged underwater and grabs prey as it arrives to drink.”

“Then it kills by asphyxiation?”

“Yes, or by drowning. The jaws are very strong. It can hold a large animal down with relative ease.”

“How large?”

“An adult deer would not escape those jaws. Large anacondas like Hildegard have even been known to kill big cats-like jaguars.”

“What about human beings?”

“Some attacks have been confirmed, but it is an exceedingly rare occurrence.”

Rheinhardt contemplated the snake's enormous size. He only just stopped himself from uttering What a monster! fearing that he would hurt the director's feelings.

“How long is Hildegard?”

“Nearly thirty feet. Pythons grow longer, though they are not so heavy.”

“Even if one knew that anacondas rarely attack human beings, entering her domain would still have been a daunting prospect.”

“Quite so,” said the director yet again. “But the villain would never have been in any real danger. This pit has been Hildegard's home for more than twenty years. She is-” The director corrected himself. “She was accustomed to human company-which almost always signified the arrival of food. In spite of appearances, she was a very docile creature.”

Rheinhardt scratched his head.

“Herr Pfundtner, have any of the keepers reported seeing anything irregular-a patron acting suspiciously, or showing excessive interest in Hildegard?”

“No. Besides, Hildegard had so many devoted admirers that it would be difficult to say.”

“What about persons who might bear the zoo itself some grudge? Do you know of any?”

“Inspector, we are the most well-loved institution in Vienna.”

“Indeed, but I was thinking that perhaps you might have dismissed a keeper, who-”

“No!” interrupted the director. “No one has been dismissed. And relations between the board of governors and the keepers have always been excellent. You mark my words, Inspector,” said Pfundtner, pointing his finger at the mutilated anaconda. “This abomination is the work of a madman!”

“You may well be right, Herr Director,” said Rheinhardt, taking his notebook from his pocket. As he did so, the door to the snake-pit opened and Walter Gundlach appeared.

“Inspector-your assistant is here.”

Rheinhardt called out, “All right-I'm on my way.” Then, turning to Pfundtner, he added more softly, “Remember, Herr Director, tread only on the stones.” Then he dropped his empty notebook back inside his coat pocket.

The two men made their way back up the slope, occasionally stretching out their arms to keep their balance. When they reached the door, the director politely allowed Rheinhardt to go through first. The doctor was still standing next to his seated patient. Walter Gundlach gestured Rheinhardt toward the hallway, where young Haussmann, the inspector's assistant, was waiting. He looked flushed and was breathing heavily as though he had been running. Without saying a word, Rheinhardt joined his junior, and they walked along the corridor until they could speak without being overheard.

“Please accept my apologies, sir. There was a-”

Rheinhardt did not want to hear any excuses. Haussmann was only a little late. Rheinhardt was disinclined to reprimand his assistant and so cut his apology off with a question: “Do you know what's happened here?”

“No, sir. I left the security office as soon as I learned of your whereabouts.”

Haussmann took out his notebook and waited for the inspector to speak. His pencil hovered over the blank paper. Rheinhardt's baggy eyes suddenly sparkled with a playful light.

“The victim is a thirty-foot female-approximately five hundred fifty pounds. She is known only as Hildegard and is said to be a personal favorite of the emperor.”

The young man stopped writing and looked up at his superior.

“You are joking, sir?”

“It's a snake, Haussmann-a snake!”

“A snake?”

“An anaconda, to be precise. Death was probably instantaneous after decapitation. Subsequently the intruder mutilated his victim by cutting off her tail. He gained entry into the snake-pit after knocking out one of the keepers, Herr Arnoldt. He's the poor fellow with the head bandage. Get a police photographer down here at once and prepare a floor plan. Take impressions of the director's shoes and those worn by the two keepers-Herr Arnoldt and Herr Gundlach-then see if you can get a cast of any prints in the snake-pit. Herr Arnoldt has lost his memory, but the doctor says that there's a fair chance it will return. I'll try interviewing him in a couple of hours: he might have more to say by then.”

The assistant looked up from his notebook. “This is all very unusual, sir.”

“Haussmann, you have a gift for understatement.”

Rheinhardt turned and began walking toward the exit.

“Sir?”

“Yes, Haussmann?”

“Where are you going?”

“To inspect the perimeter fence for damage.” Rheinhardt paused for a moment and then added, “Oh yes, and see if you can find a murder weapon. If it's here, it'll be easy to find. Something large, I suspect-an axe or some sort of sword.”

After the stifling heat of the reptile house, the fresh morning air was a delight.

The dining room was large and grandly decorated. An ornate chandelier hung from a high ceiling, and one of the walls was dominated by an intricately carved Biedermeier chest. It was a massive piece of furniture that stood almost as high as the cornicing. Liebermann-a man whose aesthetic preferences were decidedly modern-found its involutions too fussy and its stolid virtues dull. On the opposite wall was a large canvas by a popular landscape artist depicting trees and a distant horizon of snowcapped peaks. It was blandly titled Vienna Wood.