Bernhard Aichner - Woman of the Dead - A Thriller

Before Schrettl and the police officer can start their engines, they have got away. Down the street with the motorbike engine roaring. Blum is riding the bike and Reza sits behind her, his arms round her waist, clinging on. This absolutely wouldn’t do, he said at first, but then he let her talk him round. The Ducati flies out of the drive, past Schrettl and the police car. They are too fast to be stopped. The motorbike comes out of nowhere and simply disappears. Their destination remains a mystery. Schrettl will probably be cursing, the police officer will be phoning Massimo to say he has let her out of his sight, going he doesn’t know where, with a man riding pillion. Blum is in high spirits as she accelerates and overtakes, but she knows where the speed cameras are, she knows where to be careful. There’s only Blum and the autobahn, and the hands on her waist. In an hour and twenty minutes they reach Munich.

No one has stopped them. They ride to the airport and leave the bike in the car park. It is ten in the morning and they take the S-Bahn into the city and then the bus to Bogenhausen. This is where the rich people live, Benjamin Ludwig among them. They have little to carry, only a rucksack with the bare essentials; they hope to be back in Innsbruck by evening. In twelve hours’ time it should all be over. All they have planned, sitting in the S-Bahn like two children on a day out. But Blum is no longer alone in the adventure. And it feels good, right, to be conspiring with this quiet man she has known for years. But he has never been as close to her as he is now. Blum knows that he wouldn’t hesitate for a moment if they got into trouble. Ludwig will talk, Reza has assured her. He has promised to make sure that she gets the rest of the story. She will find out who was at the wheel of the car that killed Mark. She will know everything there is to know about the five men. Only then will her mind be at rest.

They make their way through Munich like tourists, without exchanging a word. Reza and Blum have made it to the hill; Ludwig’s garden is in their sights. Like thieves, they hide behind trees for hours on end, because Ludwig isn’t home. No children, no wife, just an empty house in Bogenhausen. The information that Ludwig’s production company gave them is incorrect. With every hour that passes, they doubt themselves more. All they can do is wait. Massimo keeps phoning, and Blum gives evasive answers. He is worried about her. Afternoon comes, then evening. They hold out hope that the family has just gone shopping, that they will come round the corner and they can put their plan into action at last. But that doesn’t happen. When darkness falls, the house is still empty. And Blum is hungry. She worries about the children, she is tired and impatient, she wants to get this over and done with. She begins to resent Reza’s silence. He has hardly said a word all day. He just sits beside her, staring at the house. Blum has no idea what is going through his head but he doesn’t share her annoyance at the wasted day. His face is calm, devoid of stormy weather. Reza has a task, to wait for Benjamin Ludwig, and he will not move from his post an inch until the task is complete. Blum knows that he would sit here all night, so she persuades him to come with her down the hill, to find a hotel with a restaurant. Blum wants to rest, to take her mind off Ludwig, Dunya and Mark just for a while. She wants to draw breath, make a short phone call to Karl and have a drink. Tomorrow is another day, she says.

Reza and Blum are at the reception desk of a small hotel. Blum doesn’t stop to think, A double room for one night, please comes out quite naturally. Instinct tells her that it is the right thing to do. She doesn’t want to be alone and he says nothing; there is a quiet understanding between them. Reza will stay with her. Here he is at the bar beside her, because Blum doesn’t feel like sleeping yet, and she is worried about the children. She has phoned Karl and told him she will be back later than expected, has asked him to look after the children overnight and for the day tomorrow. Karl doesn’t say yes immediately, as he usually would. He hesitates. Something is wrong; she senses that he had other plans. But Karl doesn’t want to upset Blum by refusing. We’ll manage all right , he says. Don’t worry, Blum. You do whatever it is you have to do and then come home . Then he ends the call, leaving her with Reza.

They are together at the bar, because she still doesn’t feel like sleeping. She isn’t ready to go to their room and lie down beside him. They don’t talk about the room or her need not to be alone. Reza makes it easy for her, acting as if it were the most normal thing in the world, as if they were friends who just happen to be sharing a room. He orders wine for Blum and beer for himself. With every sip he becomes more talkative. Reza respects her request not to mention Ludwig, so he talks about the children, new models of coffins, their plans to renovate the preparation room. It feels good to be talking and drinking in a hotel somewhere in Bogenhausen. Benjamin Ludwig isn’t important. Nothing is important, nothing hurts them, nothing threatens them. They drink glass after glass, and everything is simple and easy. Reza makes Blum laugh. They remember the lighter moments of their profession, eccentric wishes, difficult family members. They remember all that they have shared in the last seven years, their time in the preparation room, the countless dead bodies they have collected, the funerals they have attended. Reza was always by her side. Reza orders more wine, more beer, and he smiles, and the smile does her good. There is more between them than work. Blum puts her arms round him. Come on, come and dance with me .

They dance in the little hotel bar, skirting the tables and chairs. Although Reza can’t dance, he lets her win him over. Briefly, he protests, but then he goes along with her. Blum beams at him. She just wants to dance, close her eyes, let him lead her, listen to the music, sense whether he can hold her properly. It would never have entered Blum’s head to think of Reza as more than a colleague, a friend, her husband’s protégé. It never occurred to her that he might touch her; that their breath might mingle. They turn on the dance floor, slowly. Reza moves carefully past the bar furniture, holding Blum in his arms, her head on his shoulder.

Upstairs they glide, with another bottle of wine – just in case – through the door and into the little bedroom. Blum disappears into the bathroom for a moment, and he sits on the bed. Night has fallen in Bogenhausen. Blum comes out of the bathroom and stands in front of him. Reza doesn’t move. He holds the bottle silently, staring up at her. Blum stands there, naked.

Blum does all the talking. If Benjamin Ludwig says a word, one of his children will die. He knows Blum is serious. Reza shot at the tree that Ludwig was standing beside, a bullet is lodged in the trunk. The impact was brief and barely audible, but it was quite enough to show Benjamin Ludwig that the people on the hill mean business. They are going to shoot one of his children – then both of them, if he doesn’t keep his mouth shut. Blum tells him what he is to do. He is to listen. She tells him what she knows and then she threatens him. First I will kill the boy . Then the girl. Then your wife, then you .

How happy the family looked in the garden. Reza and Blum didn’t have long to wait. Ludwig turned up ten minutes ago, soon after they arrived back behind their tree. The children ran to their swing, his wife went into the house.

Ludwig stands there as if rooted to the spot. The children are calling to him, wanting him to join them, to push them high in the air on the swing. The good father who takes care of his children, the good father who raped a child. Youn was seventeen when they put him in the cellar. Blum has listened again to everything Dunya had to say about the huntsman. What he, Benjamin Ludwig, did to them. Now Benjamin Ludwig listens to what Blum has to say, with his phone to his ear, and his eyes searching the slope. But he doesn’t say another word; he is afraid of hearing another shot. The gun has a silencer, no one heard the first shot, no one can help him. There is only Blum’s voice telling him to pack a bag and take his passport with him, to say goodbye to his wife and children. He must think up some pretext, she tells him, invent a reason for his sudden departure. Lie to them . Now, go into the house, pack your things, say goodbye and come back out. Then get into your bloody car .