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Page 4 "I...
I think that's all I..." the plump lady started to protest. "I
haven't finished yet," Hanussen cut her short. "The man you
want to marry now is eight years younger than you are. But he won't marry
you. Your fourth husband will be much older than you. I can see him... he's
short and a little fat and has a carefully trimmed beard. No, you haven't
met him yet, madame. But I could tell you his name. Only - it isn't so urgent, is it?" The
audience laughed. Hanussen moved on among the rows, stopped in front of an
elderly man, told him that he was a professor of mathematics - and
that his son had failed in the very same subject... He gave similar
demonstrations of his "clairvoyant" powers - the usual,
not-too-original tricks. But then his arrogance and his
frivolity seemed to drop from him like a cloak. The lights dimmed. A violet
spotlight illuminated his face. He looked eerie now, his face haggard, his
brow deeply furrowed. He spoke in a broken, hoarse, almost panting voice. "Seven
days ago... a baker was murdered... in the Gänsemarkt. No one knows who did
it... no clues... Too many possibilities... too few probabilities... You all
know the case, ladies and gentlemen. I... I am going to solve it. Right
here. Tomorrow you can read it in the papers - the confirmation...
Give me a little time to... to concentrate…" There
was breathless silence in the audience now. They all stared, fascinated,
almost hypnotized, at the man with the heavy black eyebrows, the sensitive
hands which seemed to pluck the words from the air. "I
see the murderer. He is young, tall, blond. I see him quite clearly now. His
name is Walter. He isn't far from here. He's left the town. I see his
shadow... there... on the railway embankment... The train comes... twin
lights... they approach... And there is Walter... he's climbed up the
embankment... he's on the rails. . ." Hanussen
cried out violently. "It's happened," he panted. "The train's
crushed him… The murderer is dead. Look at your watches, ladies and
gentlemen. It is forty-six minutes past nine. Compare my description
with the newspaper reports - tomorrow…" His
face relaxed, his voice became steady; again he was arrogant and
self-assured. "And now... if you permit me… a fifteen minute
interval…" |