That night, Christian hardly slept. He tossed and turned in his bed. Every time he drifted into a sleep filled with nervous, ambiguous dreams, a sound from the apartment next door woke him. Finally, at half past three, he got out of bed and went to the telephone.
Chapter 12
Extract from a police interrogation protocol. Witness: Christian Shaffner
The police just laughed at me, when I told them that something had happened to one of the residents in the building. I was told that there had been an above-average number of false alarms at that address in the past few years. The police had been there many times, every time without any real cause and without any results. They asked me if I was absolutely certain.
One of the residents in the building claimed that someone was holding a child prisoner in the house, and that people had been murdered there. To begin with, the house was searched thoroughly several times, but nothing was found. Finally, they started to simply pacify the caller. But I managed to convince the police that this time, it was different – a real emergency.
Fifteen minutes later, at a quarter to four, the police arrived. I was standing in the hall when I heard the doors of a police car closing.
As though it had been arranged in advance, the door to Eileen’s apartment opened. A man ran out, bumping into me as he passed by. I grabbed him by the jacket, but he spun around and punched me in the face, so that I fell over backwards, into her apartment. As I was falling, I saw Derek Dagger storming angrily out of his apartment. He wanted to see what was going on. The stranger ran directly into the arms of the police and after a brief wrangle at the door, the was handcuffed and put into the police car.
Eileen’s apartment was the picture of chaos. There were clothes lying all over the place, there was leftover food everywhere, including in the kitchen, which was usually so clean and tidy. But, Eileen herself, looked worst of all. She lay on her bed, naked and unconscious, her legs covered with a blood-stained sheet. It seemed like hours before the ambulance arrived, although it was, in fact, just another fifteen minutes. They took Eileen to the hospital.
The next morning, someone rang Christian’s bell. He recognized Derek Dagger through the peephole. He had no desire to let anyone into his apartment, and not only because it was untidy and in need of cleaning. He certainly wasn’t in the mood for a conversation with Dagger. He opened the door anyway.
“What’s up?” he asked. “What can I do for you?”
Dagger didn’t wait for Christian to invite him inside. He pushed Christian aside, while he was still speaking and went into the living room. Christian wrung his hands.
“Is there any news about Eileen?” he asked defiantly. Dagger walked to the window without saying a word. He was biting his lip.
“I have no idea,” he said slowly. His voice was cold, and just as defiant as Christian’s had been a moment before. He gave no indication of wanting to say anything more. Dagger was a very unlikeable character, and Christian had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. He noticed that Dagger’s fists were tightly clenched in his pockets, as though he was having great difficulty controlling his rage.
Christian felt like a stranger in his own apartment. He had that feeling one gets when the presence of a stranger prevents one from doing what they usually would. At last, Dagger put a hand on his shoulder and pushed him down into the armchair.
“You called the police last night?” Christian nodded, without saying anything. He had the feeling that Dagger’s rhetorical question was just the beginning of a monologue that he had formulated in his mind whilst pacing up and down in his room.
“I would like to ask you…” Dagger paused without looking at him, “…to refrain from such actions in the future,” Christian didn’t reply. “In this building, things sort themselves out. I sort these things out.”
“Yes, I’ve come to realize that,” Christian answered with hostile irony. “Please take your hand off my shoulder.”
“Your arrogance will get you nowhere, Mr. Shaffner,” Dagger answered, almost in a whisper. He still hadn’t looked directly at him. “He would have fled sooner or later anyway. Or we would have done something about it.” He made a vague movement with his hand.
“Oh yes? Then why didn’t you do anything?” Christian shouted. Dagger didn’t react.
“We don’t want the police in this building. Either you accept that or …” he stopped in the middle of his sentence and looked out of the smudgy window.
“Or what?” Christian asked. “Why shouldn’t I call the police right now? Who’s going to stop me?”
Dagger sat on the arm of the chair Christian was sitting on, his hand still on the younger man’s shoulder, still not looking at him. Christian presumed, that the hand that was pushing him down into the chair was supposed to be answer enough.
“Go ahead,” he whispered. “Call the police! When they get here, you can tell them everything. But will they believe you? Of course they will. And then what? What did we – what did I do to you?” Christian could hardly hear him. He bent his head a little closer, so that he could make out the words. Dagger’s hand felt like lead on his shoulder. “What then? Then both of us would have a problem! Perhaps I would have to wait for you in your apartment, so that we could have this conversation all over again. Or when you went into the attic to hang up your washing. Or when you’d been in the cellar, and had to come up the long, long staircase again. The long, dark, stone staircase … I’d be waiting for you at the top.”
Dagger slowly lifted his hand from Christian’s shoulder, stood up and left the apartment. For a long time, Christian sat slumped in the armchair, staring at the spot on the wall where the wallpaper was peeling. He couldn’t move! He was afraid! He had to move out of the building!
Chapter 13
A few days later, Christian’s washer broke down. After calling customer service, who agreed to come the following day, he put the contents of the machine into a basket, and with a queasy feeling in his stomach, made his way down into the basement, to the automatic washers. Since the realtor had shown him the building, he hadn’t been down there, in the gloomy room in which the two washers stood. The two machines seemed to be staring at him with their doors, which looked uncannily like empty eyes.
After his encounter with Derek Dagger, he felt very uncomfortable in the laundry. There was not a single window down there – only a ventilation shaft that was covered with cobwebs, provided a little fresh air. One section of the wall had been replastered badly, presumably when the cabling was done for the washers.
The rotating drum of one of the washers didn’t make the room any more pleasant. Christian stuffed his washing into the drum of the other machine, added detergent and put his two coins in the slot. As soon as the machine had started, he went back to his own apartment.
A few hours later, when he went down the stairs with his basket, to fetch his washing, he heard shouting coming from the laundry. He crept a little closer. Derek Dagger and Angelica Kline were obviously having a hefty fight.
“What do you do at night? Do you still go to him? You can tell me! I won’t say anything to anybody,” he hissed at her.
“It’s none of your business!” she yelled. “Why this stupid jealousy?”
“If I catch you with him, I’ll break every bone in your body, then I’ll finish you off! And you aren’t the only one who won’t see the light of day for a long time,” Angelica laughed mockingly.
“You’ve had enough opportunities for that! You just don’t have the courage. If had, it would all have been over a long time ago!”
“Slut!” Dagger yelled, beside himself with rage. He hit her across the face with the back of his hand and she fell to the floor. She had a cut in her lip. Blood dripped onto her blouse.
“Coward,” she drooled, blood and saliva running down her chin. Dagger kicked her in the side as she lay there on the floor. Then she choked, and couldn’t say anything more.
“Slut, slut, slut,” he yelled, kicking her wi
th each word.
Suddenly he stopped and bent over her. What he did next surprised Christian almost more than the preceding violence had done. He crouched down beside her and stroked her head as she cowered on the ground, her face in a grimace of pain.
“My Star!” he said gently, stroking her cheek with one hand and covering his eyes with the other, as if to hide his tears. “Why do I do this?”
Shocked, Christian dropped the empty basket onto the floor with a loud clatter. “What are you doing here?” Dagger yelled. “Get lost, and shut about what you just saw, or you’ll be sorry!”
Once again, he ignored Derek Dagger’s instructions. He ran up the stairs to his apartment, and called the police a second time.
Chapter 14
Extract from a police interrogation protocol. Witness: Christian Shaffner
This time – but for the last time – I had no trouble convincing the police that there was an emergency. Just a few minutes later, there were two police cruisers in front of the building. I heard the policemen entering the house, and only then did I dare to open my door. I ran downstairs, crazy for fear of running into Derek Dagger.
As we walked down the stairs to the basement, I told the police what had happened, once again. When we reached the laundry, there was a trickle of water coming from the washer that was still operating. It disappeared down the plughole in the middle of the floor. But there was no sign of Angelica Kline. Suddenly, everything I had told the police seemed implausible. I broke out in a sweat. With a lot of effort, I was able to convince the police to ring Dagger’s doorbell to ask him if he knew the whereabouts of Ms. Kline. There were no signs of life at the Kline’s and nobody opened the door. Then we rang Dagger’s doorbell.
“I don’t know anyone called Angelica Kline.”
Dagger allowed his gaze to wander over each of the policemen in turn, and then to Christian. The look he gave him was like a silent threat.
“There’s a Mr. Kline here. I hardly know him, but I do know that he’s at work at the moment. Here! Look! His name tag is on the door.”
He pointed to the name tag that bore the name of Sebastian Kline. Angelica’s name was not on the name tag. While the police inspected it, Dagger glared at Christian threateningly.
“I didn’t hear anyone fighting,” Dagger continued. The boiler room is right next door. I hear every word that is spoken in the basement through the heating pipes. I certainly would have heard it.”
The policemen spoke with Dagger a while longer, then they left. After they’d gone, and he’d closed the door behind them, Christian remained in the hallway, thoroughly confused. A few minutes later, he went into the laundry to put his washing into the basket he’d dropped earlier. When he turned around, he saw Dagger standing at the top of the long basement staircase.
“What do you want?” Christian shouted. “Why did you beat Angelica up? What did she do to you? She couldn’t even defend herself!”
Dagger came slowly down the steps, towards him. Christian stepped back involuntarily, almost stumbling over his washing basket.
“Who can defend himself against me?” Dagger asked, standing right beside him. “Certainly not you! Not even I can!”
Christian didn’t even have the time to brace himself before Dagger’s fist hit him in the stomach.
“I said no police!” he whispered, close to Christian’s ear, before the younger man fell to the floor, only half conscious.
Chapter 15
Christian cut his head when he fell onto the hard concrete floor of the basement. Caroline gently cleaned the wound with a towel, then she cooled it.
“Why did you have to interfere?” she asked accusingly. “What does it have to do with you if other people start beating each other up.”
“They weren’t beating each other up,” Christian replied weakly. “He started hitting her, and when she was down on the floor, he really got going.”
“And where did your interference get you?” Caroline wouldn’t let it go. “A bloody head and a damaged ego?”
“Can’t you at least back me up?” he asked. “It’s bad enough that the police aren’t on my side.” He stopped speaking and closed his eyes. “Why didn’t she open the door?” he asked himself. “Why hadn’t any of the other residents heard the shouting? I don’t understand it! There was a puddle of blood in the basement, which was cleaned up in no time at all. I’ve got to get out of here! The sooner the better.”
“I need to be on my way,” Caroline said absently, glancing at her watch. “Look after yourself! I don’t want to have to visit you in hospital.” They stood up and Christian walked her to the door.
As he walked past the Kline’s door, he noticed that Angelica’s name was suddenly on the door again! Someone must have switched the name tags, but he was too tired to think about that now. When he had closed his door securely behind him, he lay down on the couch and almost drifted off to sleep, when suddenly, the word “hospital”, that Caroline had used just a few minutes ago, came into his mind. In a moment, he was wide awake again.
Eileen had been in hospital for almost a week now, and he hadn’t thought about her once. He felt bad, but his exhaustion got the better of him, and he fell asleep. The next morning, reality caught up with him.
Chapter 16
One week after the attack, Eileen was discharged from hospital. She had suffered several injuries, but they were harmless compared to the lonely nights that awaited her at home. Christian only saw her a few days later, when he came home from the shops.
“How are you?” he asked. Eileen gave him a look that answered his question. Without warning, she began screaming at him:
“You idiot! Why did you call the cops? Do you think I can’t look after myself?” She made a crude gesture with her hand.
“What’s wrong with you? What did I do?” he asked, amazed. Eileen shook her head in contempt.
“Just stay away from me in future, is that clear?” Christian wanted to reply, but she interrupted him immediately. “Is that clear?”
“Yes,” he answered quietly and swallowed hard. He stood there like a statue. He had no idea how to assess what had just happened. Especially when Eileen pushed her way past him, whispering “thank you” into his ear as she went by. She went into her apartment and locked the door behind her, and waited for the fear to overcome her once again.
Christian stood there for a while, feeling distraught. Then he closed his door slowly. He had noticed that the other residents in the building were very apprehensive of strangers, and that they protected their private lives almost aggressively. Even from those who wanted to help them. And all Christian wanted to do was to help them!
He’d been beaten up because he wanted to help a woman who was being threatened by a neighbor. He was punished because he had wanted to help another woman by calling the police. He just didn’t understand! He desperately wanted to know what was going on around him. It was almost obvious, that the other residents hadn’t wanted him to move in, and that they would be happiest if he moved out again, right away, and left them alone with their problems. There was nothing Christian wanted to do more. But something came up, that kept him from doing so.
The next morning, he found a letter that someone had pushed under his door. It had no address on it, nothing to say who it was from. When he opened the envelope, a note fell out.
It read: “Just in case something happens again, Eileen”. She had given him a key to her apartment. Christian was utterly confused. Not only because Eileen had screamed at him in the stairwell so loudly that everyone in the building must have heard it. They had virtually nothing to do with one another, except that he’d once carried a heavy parcel into her apartment for her. Had he become her bodyguard now? Or what else could that cryptic message mean?
After the series of unsettling occurrences, life in the building went back to normal again. At least, for a while. He met the other residents on the stairs or in the entrance hall from time to time. Dagger treated him as if the
y’d never had any differences and Eileen also behaved quite normally, in spite of her strange behavior a few days previously.
Chapter 17
Christian had just fallen asleep when he was woken by a sound from the stairwell. By now, he had become familiar with the various sounds in the house, and none of them woke him anymore. But this was a new sound.
He sat up in bed and listened. Someone was crying in the stairwell. It was the weekend, and Caroline, who was still happy enough to visit him at his place, was sleeping deeply beside him. When he entered his hall, he saw the beam of light from the stairwell shining in through the peephole, like a tiny spotlight. Silently, he made his way to the door of the apartment, pressed himself up against the door and looked through the peephole into the eerily lit stairwell.
It took a moment for his eyes to adjust, but he couldn’t see anyone, and the crying had stopped.
Just as he wanted to go back to bed, the sound began again. He quickly pulled on a shirt and a pair of pants, made sure that Caroline was still asleep, and was about to go into the stairwell to investigate. But he stood there behind his locked door for a moment, until the sound began for a third time. Then he jerked the door open, pulling the key out from the inside at the same and locking the door from the outside.
Just as he closed the door, the stairwell light went out and he found himself standing in complete darkness. He felt along the wall for a light switch, but before he could find one, the light was switched on from somewhere else. He moved to the banister slowly, and looked down carefully. There was nothing to be seen but the poorly lit stairs. Then he looked upward and saw the stairs disappearing into darkness, because one of the light bulbs had burnt out. Now, he heard the sound of crying again, and it was definitely coming from upstairs.
Carefully, he began to ascend the stairs, knowing that the creaking steps would probably wake everybody in the building. The crying stopped, but Christian continued up the stairs. It was Tanya Benton, who was sitting on the top stair, outside her brother’s apartment, weeping bitterly.
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