Bernhard Aichner - Woman of the Dead - A Thriller

Blum’s desire to pull the trigger grows with every word he speaks. Click. A gunshot, then nothing. But Blum wants more. She wants to know where the boy is and whether he is still alive. What they have done with him. I don’t know . I really don’t know. The cellar has been cleared, the furniture and cages have been thrown away. It’s all gone, the place is empty. There’s nothing left. I don’t know where the boy is. I don’t know. You must believe me. He disappeared into thin air. So nothing remains in Kitzbühel, nothing to prove the nightmare was real apart from photographs and films. And the words of Benjamin Ludwig. It is a sad truth, and it confirms what she already knows. That he hunted them, shot darts at them, always singing that song. Because those men crossed a line and couldn’t go back, so they carried on. They made the madness part of their lives and justified it to themselves. We always fed them well. It was good for them to be anaesthetised. That way it didn’t hurt. They were no better off where they came from. We looked after them well. They had everything they needed. They were well off with us .

Blum wants to kick him as hard as she can, until he shuts up. She wants to make him feel the horror, the unimaginable cruelty of every encounter. Blum wants him to say that he is sorry, that he knows he is a monster. She wants to punish him and eliminate him, and then she wants more. She wants the answer to her final question, the conclusion of the confession, though there is no forgiveness to be had. Who did it? Was it him? Did he drive the car? Was he at the wheel of the Rover? Or was it one of the others?

‘You killed my husband.’

‘I did what?’

‘You know exactly who I am. Admit it or you’re dead.’

‘Yes. I know who you are.’

‘It was your car.’

‘But I didn’t kill your husband.’

‘Don’t lie to me.’

‘I’m not.’

‘It was your car.’

‘But I wasn’t driving.’

‘Then who was?’

‘Not me.’

‘Then who?’

‘You’re not going to like this.’

‘Either you tell me or you die.’

‘He was driving.’

‘The clown?’

‘Yes, the clown.’

‘Who is he and where can I find him? Open your fucking mouth and tell me the truth.’

‘He’s to blame, not me. For the whole thing. He killed the girl. And your husband too. He said it had to be done. We tried to talk him out of it, believe me.’

‘His name. I want his name.’

‘He wanted me to do it, but I said I couldn’t kill your husband. He tried to insist. He said we’d all go to prison if he didn’t die.’

‘Ten … nine …’

‘It’s his fault, not mine.’

‘His name.’

‘I didn’t want anyone to die. I only let him use my car. I’m not responsible, I could never kill anyone.’

‘Five … four …’

‘You have no idea who you’re dealing with.’

‘Three.’

‘He’ll kill you too.’

‘Two.’

‘He won’t hesitate for a moment.’

‘One.’

‘His name is Massimo. And he’s a police—’

Blum fires the gun. Her finger pulls the trigger and now his head is lolling to the side. His name is Massimo. A few seconds ago, he was breathing, and now he is dead. But Blum can still hear him. His name is Massimo . The name eats a hole in her, fast and deep, it hollows her out, takes away all she still has. His name is Massimo. Blum sits down. She feels sick. He said that name, Massimo, the last name she was expecting. Sitting on the floor, leaning back against the wooden wall, she hears it again. It echoes around her head, even though she has pressed Stop. His name is Massimo . Blum doesn’t move. She can’t do anything but sit there looking at Ludwig’s corpse. She cannot grasp what he said. Reza is slowly kneeling down in front of her. He carefully takes her face in his hands. We can get through this , he says, his fingers on her cheeks. They keep her from falling.

Ludwig said He’ll kill you too . Reza kisses her on the forehead and stands up. Stay where you are . Then he sets to work on Ludwig the way they have planned it. Calmly, Reza dissects him and packages him up. All is quiet in the boathouse as the blood runs into the lake. Blum is lost for words, she can’t help Reza, she can’t move, because she can feel him, Massimo, deep inside her, his hands on her body, his tongue. Massimo who rooted around inside her, lied to her, stole into her. His name is Massimo. Her husband’s best friend was one of those five men. The clown was the worst of them all , Dunya had said. Blum had slept with him. Blum can’t move.

Reza saws off Ludwig’s leg. He is using a handsaw and an axe. It is heavy work; there is no current here so he cannot use power tools. Reza is sweating. But he doesn’t mind that Blum can’t help him. I can manage , he says. Clingfilm is wrapped round the leg, then sticky tape, then in it goes to a carton, then more tape. Arms, torso, head, Reza packages them all up. Then he will clean up and carry Ludwig to the car; they will leave the boathouse exactly as they found it. There will be nothing to show that a man died here. The blood is in the lake, there’s only a broken padlock that will be blamed on local youths. No one will suspect a thing. Ludwig is ready to be dispatched. The packages are addressed to the Funerary Institute; Reza has chosen a haulage firm close to the airport. They will pass it before leaving Ludwig’s car in the underground garage at the airport; they will wear gloves and leave no prints. Then they will get straight back on the motorbike and return to Innsbruck. Tomorrow, Ludwig will arrive in the post. They will store him in the cool room, divide him between coffins and, before Massimo’s eyes, Ludwig will disappear without a trace.

Does he know it’s Blum? He must have seen Dunya in her house, he knows that she hasn’t let up in her investigations. Does he think she’s capable of it? She can’t say. Was the plainclothes officer in the car outside her house there to follow her, not protect her? Massimo has been checking up on her; for the last few hours her phone hasn’t stopped ringing. He spoke into her voicemail in tones of concern. Mark’s murderer sounded so friendly. But he has her in his sights.

Back on the autobahn, Reza rides the bike and Blum sits behind him. She puts her arms around his waist, her head rests on his back, under her helmet tears fall. She feels empty, she wants to get home and wash away the thought of Massimo. She can’t believe how simple it was, how stupid, how blind she had been. Everything is falling into place. Dunya disappeared after she slept with him. He must have taken another look in the children’s room; he must have seen her in the children’s bed, the woman he had defiled for years. Dunya could have brought the whole house of cards toppling down, and Mark could have done the same. So Massimo executed her too. He held her head under water, and then he kissed Blum.

Uma is on his lap. Nela holds him from behind. At first Blum thinks it’s Karl. She is surprised that they’re not upstairs with him, that he is in their room instead. She stole quietly along the corridor to surprise them, craving a brief moment of family life after all that has happened. She wanted to hear her children’s laughter, see their pink cuddly toys, feel their innocence wash over her. She wanted to be a mother not a murderer.

Blum stands in the doorway. Mama is back , she cries. And then her voice dies away. She is rooted to the spot, staring at Massimo. He smiles at her and puts Uma down on the floor. Blum tries to smile back but panic has seized her. All the same, she reacts fast. What a surprise! She doesn’t move but opens her arms wide and gathers her children into them. Mama, Mama, Mama. Kneeling down, she hugs them, avoiding his eyes. She doesn’t know what to do, she thinks hard, she wants to get them to safety, away from this man. Out of the room, out of the house, far away. She sees his hands on her children but she knows he mustn’t realise that something is amiss, that she knows the truth. She must act as though nothing has changed. There must be no fear, no trembling until he has left the house. How nice to see you , then she stands up and gives him a hug. Her whole body shrinks from it, but she puts her arms around the man who killed her husband. She does it for the children. She’d have given anything for him to go away before showing his true colours, before turning into a beast. So she smiles and she pretends. She sits the children down in front of the television and leads him into the living room.