Munich, Germany 1920
Munich Science University was one of the top science universities in Germany. It allowed only the best and brightest students to glorify its grounds. The staff and faculty were impressed by his skills and talent; and he was more than proud to hear it. It reminded him of the time he sang opera as a child (the best and brightest) until he lost his singer's voice.
From a dreamer to a realist, it was quite a change. But he got used to it. And fast.
He was at the top of his classes. His mentors said he was a natural, like when he used to sing. He---
"Karl Rupert Kroenen! Get your ass over here!"
Kroenen jumped like a startled deer when he heard the voice demanding his attention.
Slowly, as if looking back at a ghost over his shoulder, he saw an angry young woman at the age of twenty glowering at him with predatory eyes. She had a brown hair that curled at the ends like many women styled their hair. She wore a white shirt and a matching maroon suit with a skirt. But unlike most women she had a fire in her. She was like a cat, a wild cat. And she had claws, too. She had punched him once to twice. And jumping on him was rather fun for her.
"Jacqueline," he said calmly. "What's the matter?"
"Stop being so coy, Karl Rupert Kroenen," she said.
Ouch. He hated it when she called him like that. It meant trouble.
She put her hands on her hips and said, "Do you know what time it is? I was looking all over for you. You weren't at the fountain where we always meet. What happened?"
Kroenen looked over to the man he was speaking with before he was rudely interrupted. He was Herman von Klempt. He knew him the first year at the university. And today he had informed him of an interesting political movement. Kroenen wasn't much into politics; science was his specialty, but what he was telling him peaked his interest.
He looked from Herman to Jacqueline. "Well, I . . .was distracted."
"You know very well our time together is limited," she said matter-of-factly. "And you wasted that time for what? What is so important?"
He stared at her a moment before gesturing to a heavy built man near him. "Jacqueline, this is Herman Von Klemt---"
She calmed a bit and dropped one arm at her side. "Listen, Karl, I need to speak to you."
He stared at her. It was a sudden change in such little time. Normally it took longer for her to cool down. If that was the case then it must be important.
"Well, I have to go," he said. "I'll meet you at the fountain at eight tonight, all right? Will that make it up?"
"All right. Perhaps that is best." Her voice was soft.
"Jacqueline? Is everything all right?" Something seemed wrong. The way she was acting. It was curious. She was rarely this way. It was the first time she had shown this side of her. She was a young woman who never shed a tear in from of him. Although, behind doors, he never knew what happened. Today there seemed to be something that wanted out of that door.
"I don't know," she said. "I'll speak to you in private." She turned and left.
Kroenen watched her and shook his head.
"What's wrong with her Karl?" Herman said.
He shrugged. "I'll just have to find out." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his pocket watch. It read 2:22pm.
"I better go, Herman. Tell me a little bit more about this plan, won't you?" He twirled his watched and put it back into his pocket. He turned and started off.
* * *
She became nervous as the days went by and she became more nervous as the hours passed through the whole day. She had meant to tell Karl Kroenen something she thought she never had to---but now she couldn't bring herself to. She feared it. She feared his reaction.
So, there was one option.
She arranged a meeting with two other medical students at one of their dorms. The university discouraged female and male interactions after hours but she ignored the rule (she and Karl both). This time she was meeting with another female, too, and for a different purpose.
They were both from her medical classes. They were called the twins since they were always seen together, but not in a romantic sort of way (unlike she and Karl). Lucky them. Romantic connections between students were also discouraged.
She went to the door of the dorm and knocked. She waited for a few seconds before she heard the lock click and the door open. Behind it stood a tall man and once they made eye contact, he smiled. "Come on in, Jacqueline." He stood aside and let her in.
She stepped inside and saw a young woman sitting at a table. She had her elbow on the table and leaned onto her ear as if she had been waiting for a long time.
"Finally she comes," she said. "Hello, Jaqueline."
She nodded. "Gerta."
"So what brings you here?"
Jaqueline stopped and looked at her then to the man behind her. She stepped aside so she had space between them. She stood there looking at them, and while she did, her heart began to pick up its pace. Her mouth went dry.
"Jaqueline?"
"I . . .have a problem."
"And that is?"
She lowered her eyes. She noticed her hands were shaking.
"Well, out with it, woman," the man said in a non-chalant tone.
She wasn't sure how long she held her silence but eventually she said, "I need surgery."
* * *
Jaqueline hadn't shown that night. She hadn't shown when he waited for her in the following afternoon, either. And he waited again the next night for her to show up. He even looked for at her dorm but there was no answer every time.
He sat on the concrete edge, listening to the falling water. She was missing for two days now and the last time he saw her she was begging for his attention.
Was this connected?
It worried him.
While he listened to the pouring water behind him a figure approached. He didn't look up until the familiar voice of Herman Klempt said, "Karl."
He picked his head up.
"Are you still looking for Jaqueline?"
"Waiting, yes."
Then, he flatly said, "Jaqueline's dead."
Kroenen shot to his feet. "What? What happened?"
Herman shrugged. "I don't know. I couldn't find out. People said she was hit by a car, maybe attacked. Everybody's saying anything."
Kroenen stood with his hands bunched.
He never found out the truth that day. He never found out for years, nor decades. His thoughts of her never left him.
He had to know.
