But all she heard was her own heart pounding, like it had pounded the whole way there, like it had pounded when Sponer had turned up, like it had pounded all those long years when she had heard nothing else. And she followed that heart of hers, and Sponer’s urgent request to fetch his things, and entered the room.
She had hardly stepped over the threshold, when she was grabbed and held fast. She let out a cry. At the same time someone turned the light on. She saw the two detectives and Haintl, and the next moment the Oxenbauers and the porter also rushed in.
They were evidently expecting Sponer himself, because Haintl cried out the moment the light was switched on that it was only Marie.
“Who?” asked one of the detectives, a dark-haired, stocky man.
“Marie Fiala,” Haintl said. “Sponer’s girlfriend.”
“Yes, that’s right, his girlfriend,” the Oxenbauer girl added immediately.
But Haintl turned to Marie and shouted, “For God’s sake, how could he have done such a thing!”
“Done what?” Marie asked, as white as a sheet.
The other detective, a tall, blond, slightly thick-set man, immediately motioned to Haintl to keep quiet.
“What has he done?” Marie repeated.
“What are you looking for here?” the blond detective asked.
“What has he done?” Marie screamed.
Haintl shrugged his shoulders.
“I want to know what brought you here!” the detective shouted. “Do you hear me?”
“Yes,” she stammered.
“So, what are you looking for here?”
“I’m looking for…” she stuttered. “I wanted…”
“What did you want?”
“I wanted to see… Ferdinand,” she finally said.
“Now?”
“Yes.”
“And where have you been up to now?” the other detective enquired.
At the precise moment she didn’t know what to say, for she was still completely confused; the only thing she knew was that she mustn’t betray Sponer. She mustn’t tell them that she’d come from her house and that Sponer was still there. It was obvious something dreadful must have happened, but she had not a moment’s hesitation in her resolve not to betray him.
“Now, are you going to tell us?” the detective shouted.
She finally said she’d been at her friend’s place where they’d been darning sheets.
“All this time?”
“Yes.”
“And where did you get the key from?” the blond detective asked.
“Which key?”
“The front-door key!”
“The front door,” she said, “was already open.”
They all looked at the housekeeper.
“What?” the housekeeper stammered. “Open? That means I must have…”
“And the key to the flat?” the stocky detective asked.
“The key to the flat?”
“Yes, the key to the flat!”
“The door to the flat, too, was open.”
“But you still can’t open it without a key,” the stocky man said.
She no longer knew what to say. The detective in the meantime put his hand into her coat pocket and brought out the key. “So, where did you get it?”
She was silent.
“Where did you get it?” the man repeated.
She clenched her teeth.
“You don’t want to say?”
“No.”
“It’s hardly necessary,” the blond detective said. “It’s obvious you must have got it from Sponer. Where did he give it to you? Where is he?”
She remained silent.
“If you won’t answer,” the blond detective said, “I’ll do it for you. You must have got the key just a short time ago, otherwise you’d have come earlier. And where were you till now? Darning sheets? A likely story! You were at home. Sponer could have given you the key only when you were at home. He stayed at your place and sent you here with the key. Obviously he wants you to get something for him. Isn’t that so?”
“Yes,” she said. She realized that she had made a terrible mistake in not answering the questions. Her silence had revealed more than answers would have done, for it enabled the others to draw the obvious conclusion. Now that they’d caught her out, they’d also search her flat. They’d do it in any case, because she was Sponer’s girlfriend. Unless she managed to distract the detectives, they would find Sponer.
“And what was it that he wanted you to bring him?” the blond detective asked.
“Money,” she answered. “But for Heaven’s sake, tell me what he has…”
“What does he need money for? Is he planning to escape?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “He just wanted it. But if you don’t want to tell me…”
“Where is the money?” the other one asked.
They didn’t disclose what had happened. She looked at Haintl, but he only shrugged his shoulders.
“Where is the money?” the stocky one repeated.
“In the drawer,” she said after a moment’s pause. The blond one removed the cover from the desk, but couldn’t pull the drawer out.
“You’ve got the key,” she suddenly added, “It’s with the other ones.”
The stocky detective gave the blond one the key.
“It’s on the left at the back,” she said.
They took out the envelope.
“Is this it?” the stocky one asked.
“Yes.”
They looked inside. All the others also stared with curiosity. The envelope contained just a few notes. “Is that all?” the stocky one asked.
“Yes,” she said.
They had evidently expected to find more, obviously all the money that Sponer had taken from the murdered person, whoever he was. If it hadn’t been for the fact that they also wanted to investigate the robbery, they wouldn’t have remained there a moment longer, but would have left immediately to apprehend Sponer. Now, however, they were disappointed to find only Sponer’s meagre savings. The stocky one threw the envelope on the table.
“And where,” he asked, “is the rest of the money?”
It had not yet dawned on the two detectives why it was that Marie was suddenly so willing to answer their questions. Now that the main object of her mission was lying there on the table, she could take it to Sponer.
Quick as a flash she grabbed the money, made a dash for the door, ran out and slammed the door of the flat. Before the amazed company had realized what was happening, she had slammed the door behind her and was standing in the dark; then she ran not down the stairs, but up without a moment’s hesitation. A woman almost always does the right thing instinctively.
She was already on the landing and round the bend before the others stormed out of the flat. They naturally all ran down the stairs, continually stumbling, cursing and striking matches. The detectives were more astute, however; instead of running, they slid down the banister. They were also the first to reach the front door, which they tore open, and ran out into the street. A few moments later the others were also at the bottom of the stairs and likewise ran out into the street.
9
AS SOON AS THE COAST WAS CLEAR, Marie also ran down. The front door was open; she carefully peered out into the street and saw that it was deserted. However, at the very moment when she stepped out of the house, one of the detectives — the tall one — and Haintl, were already on their way back. Finding the neighbouring streets deserted, they had no doubt surmised that Marie was probably still in the house. That it hadn’t occurred to them why they hadn’t heard her running down the stairs when they were following her could probably be best explained by the fact that they themselves were making so much noise in the pursuit.
As soon as they turned the corner, the two of them immediately saw Marie and broke into a run. She started in the other direction, towards Mariahilfer Strasse. At that very moment the Oxenbauers, the housekeeper and the second detective came round the corner ahead of her. The first lot shouted to the second to stop Marie. She therefore ran as quickly as she could diagonally across the street, ducking and weaving to evade the first two, and ran on with all six of them in hot pursuit.