Johnny O'Brien - Day of the Assassins

“We were lucky, he and I go back a long way. He…”

Jack interrupted, “We should explain, Professor.” Jack said. “Anna, the maid, she’s not what she seems. She’s a Serb.”

“More — a spy,” Angus added.

The professor looked shocked, “What? What do you mean?”

Jack took out Pendelshape’s photograph from his pocket and placed it on the little wooden table next to the window in front of the professor.

“Remember this, Professor? Well — Anna took the photograph. She told us all about it this morning.”

“What?” the professor exclaimed. “But…”

Jack pointed at one of the figures in the picture, “That’s Anna’s brother, Dani. He is a member of the Black Hand. They are a Serb underground movement.”

“Incredible!” The professor held the photo level with his eyes, “So how on earth does Anna come to be working in Mueller’s house?”

“Placed there to keep tabs on him. Remember — you told us — he worked for the Austrian diplomatic service. Anna says he still has senior contacts, apparently. There is a large network of informants, like Anna. They’re everywhere. But the main point is…” Jack took the photograph from the professor and held it in front of them so they could all study it properly, “Anna, and her brother, Dani, know Pendelshape.”

They all looked at the photograph closely.

“Anna explained to us who they all are,” Jack continued. “This photo was taken in Belgrade when Pendelshape, my dad and the rest of the VIGIL team originally tested the Taurus, just before Dad disappeared. Look — there’s Pendelshape. Anyway, that one is Gavrilo Princip, the man who shoots Archduke Franz Ferdinand, this Sunday… in Sarajevo… four days from now.”

“So how do these plotters come to know Anna’s brother? How come he is involved?”

“Part of the Belgrade cafe set… but that’s not all.” Jack sucked through his teeth and looked at Angus nervously, “Anna and Dani’s father was murdered. Anna didn’t tell us the whole story, but the Austrian authorities did nothing about it.”

“So Anna and her brother, Dani, don’t like living under Austrian rule?” the professor asked.

“Hate them. Anyway, it seems that Pendelshape quite easily penetrated the plotter’s circle by pretending to be an English academic travelling, but also with a big interest in the Southern Slavs. He pretended to be sympathetic to them, gave them money, that kind of thing. They were grateful for Pendelshape’s support — being so poor and eager for any help that they could get to fight the Austro- Hungarian Empire.”

“Wait,” the professor said, “I thought your teacher, Pendelshape, and your father for that matter, wanted to stop the assassination and the war… not help the Bosnian Serb conspirators who trigger it?”

“You’re right, Professor,” Jack said. “Angus and I talked about it last night…”

The professor raised his eyebrows expectantly.

“Using their knowledge of history, Pendelshape and my dad wanted to get the trust of the conspirators, infiltrate the group and then, at the last moment, disrupt the entire plot, stop the assassination and thereby prevent the war from starting. It’s quite the opposite of what Anna and Dani think.”

Angus added, “Yeah — and Anna and Dani were taken in by Pendelshape. He must have impressed them — because they trust him completely.”

“Thing is, Anna also trusts us now.”

“So Anna thinks that Pendelshape was a friend… and will be returning soon to help them,” the professor said.

“Yes — but Pendelshape isn’t a friend at all. He was going to blow the whole thing. He was going to betray Anna and Dani. But Anna thinks we have been sent by Pendelshape. She thinks our guise as English boys travelling abroad with our German uncle is a good one. Mueller thinks she is going to Vienna to do some shopping for him. But her plan is different. When we get there, she will meet us at the station and then she wants to take us to Dani. After that, she didn’t say. But she assumes we have instructions from Pendelshape to help them. Her first job is to get us to the assassins.”

As Jack explained it all, the professor’s eyes flashed in anticipation. “Well, this is our chance!” He nodded keenly, “Yes — we now have a way in — a way to stop this horrible war happening — just as your father and Dr Pendelshape intend!”

After many hours, the train slowed as at last they approached Vienna — the centre of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The professor and Angus were slumped in one corner of the carriage, the gentle movement of the train having rocked them to sleep a good hour before. Jack craned his neck — sure enough, they were rumbling towards a large station.

“Wake up — we’re here!”

The professor and Angus came round, eyes blinking. The train creaked to a gentle halt with a loud hissing of smoke and steam. Doors started to swing open onto the hubbub of the platform.

Angus studied their new surroundings, “Vienna, eh? Cool.”

“You said that once before — and nearly stitched us all up,” Jack said.

They approached the barrier, showed their tickets, and moved quickly on.

Anna pushed through the throng emerging from the third-class carriages and greeted them with a warm smile. She had jettisoned her maid’s outfit, and her long hair flowed loosely — a first gesture of freedom. There would be no return to the drudgery and humiliation of life in the Mueller household for her.

She looked around furtively. “You need to follow me,” she said quietly.

But they had no time to obey.

At that moment, they were surrounded by five uniformed officials. Out of the shadows, a sixth man appeared. He wore a simple double-breasted suit and a straw boater. He was a thin, wiry man and he spoke English with a strong foreign accent.

“Welcome to Vienna,” he said. “I hope you had a pleasant journey from Innsbruck? We have been expecting you. Please, let me introduce myself — Friedrich Kessler. I work for the Austrian government.”

The professor started to speak, “What is the meaning…?” Kessler put his finger to his lips, “Please, Professor, no trouble now. If you would like to come with us, I assure you, you and your, er, family, will come to no harm. No harm at all.”

They were marched through the station concourse causing a flurry of heads to turn in the crowd.

“What’s this all about?” Angus whispered.

“Well one thing’s for sure… this lot don’t look like VIGIL agents — more like royal life guards or something,” Jack replied.

“That’s exactly what they are…” the professor said out of the corner of his mouth.

But Anna, for one, was not going to hang around for confirmation. Suddenly, she elbowed the guard next to her in his solar plexus and then bit his hand — hard. She writhed free and made a dash into the thronging crowd on the concourse. One of the guards raised his rifle. But it was too late — Anna was gone.

Kessler swore and harshly reprimanded the guards, who now gripped Jack, Angus and the professor firmly by the arm, so they could not try a similar stunt. They were bundled unceremoniously into a waiting motor van outside. The professor protested again, but was ignored, and the van rumbled off with the trio in the back with two guards.

The professor rattled the mesh that separated them from the driver’s cabin.

“What’s happening? Where are you taking us?”

Kessler replied evenly, “Please calm down, Professor, all will be explained shortly.”

The van rumbled along and from their cramped position inside it was difficult to make out their direction through the streets of Vienna.