Murder's Art

by Christopher Nicole

  ‘I find it difficult to accept that they are not meaning to try something.’

  ‘Agreed. So we must be prepared to meet them on the same basis. You understand this, Janitz?’

  Sasha nodded. ‘I will take my people, and the German, down to the rendezvous. I will make the exchange as arranged. If there is any treachery, I will engage the enemy, and be supported from up here.’

  Tito gestured at the twenty men crouched or lying amidst the bushes on the wooded hillside. ‘These are my best marksmen. But you understand that you will be risking your life?’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  ‘Well then, good fortune.’

  Sasha saluted, and went to stand by Tony’s litter. He squeezed her hand. ‘And from me.’

  Sasha’s mouth twisted. ‘I will bring Sandrine back to you, my Tony.’ She grasped Angela’s arm, and pushed her down the path, followed by her women. Angela was handcuffed, and looked more like a waif than ever; she shivered at Sasha’s touch.

  ‘I will go down as well,’ Matovic said. He had been strangely nervous all morning, Tony thought.

  ‘If the Jerries see you they may pull out,’ Curtis objected.

  ‘We will stay concealed unless we are required,’ Matovic assured the major, and signalled his men to follow him. Curtis looked at Tony, who looked at Tito, who shrugged. The general knew he held all the high cards, and was prepared to let events take their course.

  ‘How much farther?’ Ulrich had appropriated Albrecht as his driver.

  ‘Another two miles, Herr Captain.’

  Ulrich looked at Sandrine, who was seated beside him in the centre of the back seat; Anke sat on her other side, and there were two soldiers in the front beside Albrecht. ‘Well, Fräulein,’ he remarked, ‘you are on the verge of another triumph, eh?’

  ‘I will tell you tomorrow,’ she replied.

  ‘Do you have no feelings at all?’

  ‘You never took the trouble to find out, Captain.’

  Ulrich could understand how Wassermann had lost his temper with her; he was close to doing so himself. But that was at least partly tension; in only a few minutes’ time he was going to have to kill her. And then kill Angela von Blintoft – or at least see that she was killed. Two of the most attractive women he had ever met.

  He and Sandrine had spent the last night in Sarajevo, having taken the train from Belgrade, and he had entertained her to dinner … and wished so much that things could be different. Before he could stop himself, he squeezed her hand. She looked up in surprise, and actually smiled. He had not seen her smile before, and realized that she was, at last, beginning to believe that it was going to happen.

  ‘I see them,’ Albrecht said.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ Sasha asked Matovic as she and her squad descended into the valley.

  ‘We have been given permission to oversee the exchange.’

  ‘Well, do it from over there, and keep out of sight,’ she told him.

  ‘As you wish, Captain.’ He and his men went off to hide amongst the trees and tumbled rocks.

  ‘Check your weapons,’ Sasha told her women. ‘And remember, at the first sign of treachery, take cover and open fire. But do not hit Sandrine.’ The women nodded and spread out, unslinging their tommy-guns. ‘And you just do as you are told.’ Sasha released Angela’s wrists.

  Angela rubbed her hands together. ‘And if I attempt anything, will you kill me?’

  ‘With pleasure.’

  ‘Why do you hate me so? Is it because I tried to attack Davis? He killed my mother.’

  ‘He did not do that.’

  ‘He admits he was there to kill my father. I have every reason to wish him dead. But he is your lover.’ Her lip curled. ‘Was your lover. His mistress is now being returned to him.’

  ‘Yes,’ Sasha said equably.

  ‘Would you not rather she had been executed?’

  Sasha considered her. ‘I would rather you were to be executed,’ she said. ‘You are evil. Your regime is evil. You are creatures of the pit, and should be returned there. If I ever see you again after today, I will kill you.’ She smiled. ‘Very slowly.’

  Angela gulped, and one of the women said, ‘I see them.’

  The two command cars came slowly down the rough road. Sasha stood up and levelled her binoculars, counting heads; the second car was crowded. Fifteen people in all, of whom six were soldiers, as arranged. There were also a captain and his driver, and a large woman wearing uniform, but she had no doubt that she could cope with them, even without the support with which she was surrounded.

  The car stopped, and Ulrich got out. He gazed at Sasha, and she gazed back; they had never seen each other before, and he was surprised to find himself facing a woman, when he had expected … ‘Where is Davis?’

  ‘That is not your business,’ Sasha said. ‘Bring your prisoners forward.’

  Ulrich looked past her at Angela. ‘Are you all right, Fräulein?’

  ‘How can I possibly be all right?’ Angela asked. ‘I have been raped.’

  Ulrich looked at Sasha. ‘She was to be returned unharmed.’

  ‘You will find no bruises on her body. We are at war. In a war, women get raped. If it will relieve your mind, I shot the man who did it.’

  ‘You …’ As with Sandrine, Ulrich found it difficult to relate this handsome young woman with the business of killing.

  ‘So, bring our people forward,’ Sasha said.

  Ulrich looked from her to the six young women standing behind her, each armed with a tommy-gun, and his sense of sadness grew; all these attractive females would have to die. But there was nothing for it. He turned and waved his hand. The German soldiers got out of the command cars, as did Albrecht and Anke. The soldiers remained standing in front of the cars; like Sasha’s women, they were all armed with tommy-guns. Then the six prisoners also disembarked, and started to approach Ulrich.

  The Brolics moved slowly and uncertainly, the two children huddling against their mother. She was more interested in looking at Sandrine, who moved easily and confidently, as she always did. Kostic was behind her, and Angela held her breath; he would certainly remember her.

  Sandrine returned Angela’s stare; from both her torn clothes and her generally unkempt appearance, it was obvious that she had been having a hard time. Sandrine was also surprised, and disappointed, that Tony was not here to greet her. But he was surely somewhere close. When she reached Ulrich she hesitated. ‘Go on, mademoiselle,’ he said. ‘You are free.’ Sandrine drew a deep breath, and stepped past him. She watched Angela step past Sasha to come towards her, and heard Ulrich say in a low voice, ‘Now, Kostic.’

  Instantly she knew the trap was about to be sprung. Without hesitation she turned back and threw herself against Ulrich, still close behind her. Such was the force of her charge that she knocked him off his feet; he crashed to the ground, winded, with her on top of him, and before he could recover she had whipped his pistol from its holster.

  For a moment no one reacted. Kostic had also produced a pistol, but Sasha naturally supposed he was on their side, and only reacted when he levelled it at Angela and squeezed the trigger. Angela gave a shriek and fell. Sasha dropped to her knees, shouting, ‘Take cover,’ as she returned fire.

  The German soldiers now also opened fire, and, caught in the midst of it, Kostic was hit several times and went down. The Brolics were already on the ground, desperately hoping not to be hit. Anke drew her pistol, and Sandrine, still lying on top of Ulrich, shot her twice in the stomach. Ulrich tried to sit up, and was forced down again by Sandrine holding the pistol to his throat. ‘Keep still or I will blow your head off,’ she told him. He lay back, staring at her.

  Two of the soldiers had been killed, and the other four, as well as Albrecht, were sheltering behind the cars, which were already riddled with bullet holes and now burst into flames. Sasha scrambled back to her feet, as did her women. Angela rose to her knees, her now bloody hands pressed to her body. ‘They meant to kill m
e,’ she muttered.

  Sasha ignored her as she went forward. Kostic was dead and Anke was clearly dying, writhing on the ground and weeping and shrieking; the remaining soldiers were lost to sight behind the smoking cars. ‘You are outnumbered,’ Sasha called. ‘Throw out your weapons, and then come out with your hands up.’ She stood above Sandrine and Ulrich. ‘That was quick thinking,’ she said. ‘Did you know they meant treachery?’

  ‘I had a pretty good idea,’ Sandrine said, getting off Ulrich. ‘You can get up now.’

  Slowly Ulrich pushed himself up, now more concerned with Sasha’s tommy-gun, which was pointing at him, than with Sandrine’s pistol. ‘Tell your men to surrender,’ Sasha said.

  Ulrich hesitated, and then looked at the bushes to their left, from which Matovic and his Cetniks now emerged.

  ‘What are they doing here?’ Sandrine snapped.

  Sasha shrugged. ‘They were to oversee the exchange. Not that you have been much help,’ she told Matovic as he came up to them.

  ‘I am doing what I came to do,’ Matovic said.

  ‘Arrest this bastard,’ Sandrine said.

  ‘What has he done?’ Sasha asked.

  ‘He sold me to the Nazis. He will hang.’

  Sasha turned towards the Cetniks, and looked down the barrel of a tommy-gun; her own was at the end of her fingers, hanging by her side. ‘It is you who are under arrest,’ Matovic said. ‘I came here especially to deal with this bitch. Tell your women to lay down their arms, or you will die.’

  ‘Are you stupid?’ Sasha asked. ‘Do you not know that you are overlooked?’

  ‘They will not fire into us, and risk hitting you … and Sandrine,’ Matovic said. ‘Do it. And you, mademoiselle.’

  Sandrine and Sasha looked at each other. They were entirely surrounded by the Cetniks, but, having got this far, Sandrine did not intend to be murdered, however much she was determined to avenge herself on this man. She gave the Luger back to Ulrich, while Sasha surrendered her tommy-gun to one of the Cetniks. ‘Don’t shoot,’ she called to the women.

  ‘That is very sensible behaviour,’ Matovic said. ‘Captain Ulrich, prepare to pull out. We will take these two with us. And you, Fräulein,’ he called to Angela.

  Slowly Angela stumbled forward. ‘I am wounded.’

  Matovic tore away some of her dress to look at her flesh. Her face twisted in a mixture of pain and distaste. ‘It is nothing more than a nick,’ he said. ‘You’ll survive.’

  Tito handed his glasses to Tony. ‘I do not understand what is happening.’ They had seen the various movements, and heard the exchange of shots, but had not interfered, as it had appeared that Sasha was in full command of the situation. But now that she had handed over her tommy-gun …

  ‘That bastard Matovic,’ Tony said.

  ‘We will have to open fire.’

  ‘You’ll hit the women.’

  ‘He is playing some game of his own.’ Curtis had also been studying the situation through his glasses. ‘I’ll sort him out.’ He got up, and ran down the slope, blowing his whistle and waving his arms.

  ‘He’s gone mad,’ Tito said.

  ‘I think he’s just come to his senses,’ Tony said. ‘Christ, to be able to get down there …’

  ‘Prepare to fire,’ Tito told his marksmen. ‘They cannot be allowed to get away.’

  Tony swallowed; Sandrine and Sasha might just have been condemned to death. He watched Curtis stumbling down the slope, his revolver drawn, and gasped as Matovic levelled his pistol and shot the British officer in the chest. Curtis went down, the revolver flying from his grasp. But his appearance had distracted everyone, and Sasha and Sandrine were the first to react. Sasha wrenched her tommy-gun from the hands of the man standing beside her, spraying the Cetniks before they had a chance to recover. Sandrine struck Ulrich with a karate chop on the shoulder, and as his knees sagged she regained possession of the pistol. Matovic turned to face her, and she shot him through the heart.

  The Cetniks, who had fallen away from Sasha’s tommy-gun, presented the marksmen on the hill with exposed targets, and the brief gun battle was already over. The Germans had tried to join in, and had been destroyed by the Partisans; only Albrecht and two of the soldiers remained alive, and they had their hands high in the air. Tito waved at his men, and Tony’s stretcher was carried down the hill.

  Sandrine was kneeling beside Curtis, whose eyes were open. ‘Bit of a foul-up, mademoiselle.’ He turned his head as Tony was placed beside him. ‘I owe you an apology, Colonel,’ he said, and then his face stiffened.

  ‘He was a brave man,’ Sandrine said.

  Tony reached for her hand. ‘As you are a very brave woman.’

  ‘I cannot leave you alone for a moment without you getting yourself shot,’ she complained.

  ‘Do we shoot these people, General?’ Sasha asked. Ulrich was sitting up and holding his shoulder.

  ‘Please, not him,’ Sandrine said.

  ‘He tried to kill us all, treacherously.’

  ‘He was only obeying orders. And before then, he did his best for me.’

  ‘And this one?’ Tito gestured at Angela.

  ‘Her too, after her fashion.’

  ‘I am wounded,’ Angela said. ‘Will you not help me?’

  ‘Oh, bind her up,’ Sasha told her women.

  Angela gave a shriek as the women surrounded her.

  ‘What is your name?’ Tito asked Ulrich.

  Ulrich stood up, and did his best to come to attention. ‘Captain Hermann Ulrich, sir.’

  ‘Well, Captain Ulrich, I suggest you return to Belgrade, and restore the young lady to her father. Tell him that we have found him out, as we shall do again and again until he, and you, and all of your filthy apparatus, have left our country.’

  Ulrich looked at Tony. ‘We haven’t met,’ Tony said. ‘And I strongly recommend that we do not meet again. But I thank you for helping Sandrine.’

  ‘How can we get back to Belgrade?’ Angela asked. Her clothes were even more tattered, and she now had a bandage round her waist. ‘There is no transport.’

  ‘That is quite true,’ Tito agreed. ‘You will have to walk, at least as far as Sarajevo. It is only thirty miles.’

  ‘But I am wounded.’

  ‘I am sure you will make it. Do you not belong to the master race? Now is your chance to prove that.’

  Angela looked at him, then down at the ill-fitting boots she had been given to wear, and finally at Sandrine. Then she hugged her torn fur coat around herself, and set off along the road.

  Ulrich saluted both Tito and Tony, and looked for a last time at Sandrine. ‘They told me you had a sting, mademoiselle. And I did not believe them. I will wish you good fortune.’ He followed Angela, with Albrecht and the soldiers behind him.

  ‘I wonder what story they will tell,’ Tony remarked.

  ‘We should have killed them all,’ Sasha said. ‘I do not see how you could wish to spare their lives, Sandrine.’

  ‘Because they saved mine,’ Sandrine said.

  Tito called the Brolics forward. ‘Your place is with us now.’

  Both the parents seemed to have aged a hundred years, Tony thought.

  ‘Our son,’ Brolic ventured. ‘Is he … ?’

  Tito looked at Sasha.

  ‘Your son died in battle against the Germans,’ Sasha said. ‘Avenging you.’

  They sighed, and hugged their remaining children.

  ‘Bring the major’s body,’ Tito said. ‘He will have a proper burial, and you, Tony, will personally report his death to Alexandria.’

  ‘What about these others?’ Sasha asked.

  ‘Leave them. If Mihailovic wants to come looking for his people, he is welcome to do so.’

  ‘That man tried to kill me,’ Angela said as she stumbled along the uneven surface. ‘How did he come to be armed?’

  ‘I do not know, Fräulein,’ Ulrich said. ‘It is something I am going to find out.’

  Angela considered for several
seconds, then she asked, ‘What is going to happen to me?’

  ‘I am sure your father will be overwhelmed with joy to have you back, Fräulein.’

  ‘But … all of those people, dead.’

  ‘His orders were to bring you back, regardless of the cost,’ Ulrich said. It was what was going to happen to him that was far more important, in his opinion. Heydrich had said that the girl had to be killed by either Kostic or one of the Partisans, so he could not now do the job, even if he had the stomach for it, in front of Albrecht and the soldiers.

  Angela’s shoulders hunched. ‘It has been a disaster. My life has been a disaster. I am in such pain.’

  Ulrich squeezed her hand. ‘Do not take it so hard, Fräulein. You are alive, when you should – I beg your pardon, could – have been dead. You are on your way home to your father, and then you will be able to join Major Wassermann, and be married.’

  Angela burst into tears.

  ‘A message from Alexandria.’ Tito entered the sick room. ‘The most amazing news.’ He looked at Tony and the two women. ‘You will hardly believe this, but a few days ago Japan attacked the United States.’

  ‘Good lord!’ Tony remarked. ‘Does that affect us?’

  ‘Indeed it does, because Herr Hitler has declared war on America in Japan’s support. That means we have America on our side. We cannot lose.’

  Sandrine clapped her hands.

  ‘They have also acknowledged Curtis’s death, and recognised your existence,’ Tito went on. ‘Do you wish to be taken out?’

  ‘Not if you still have use for me here.’

  ‘I will have, once you are fit again, and now that the odds have changed in our favour. I think we still have a lot to do, convincing them that we are the people they should be supporting.’

  ‘Will you tell them of Mihailovic’s treachery?’

  ‘I will let you do that. Hurry up and get well.’ He looked at the two women. ‘I will leave him in your care.’ He left the room, beckoning the doctor and the nurses to follow.

  Sasha and Sandrine looked at each other. This was the first time the three of them had been alone together. ‘We mourned you,’ Sasha said. ‘And sought only to avenge you. But …’