Chapter 7
Biggles Learns Something
Biggles himself was not feeling anything like as cheery as his cousin. When he had left Algy in front of the café he had been fortunate enough to find a back entrance beside the lavatories which led onto Elisabethstrasse. It was the work of a moment to make sure no one was observing him as he slipped through and walked smartly away. Thinking it best not to make directly for his objective, he took a detour down Museumstrasse before rejoining the main road further along. Realising he was walking more briskly than might be expected of a sight-seeing tourist, he tried to slow his pace, aware that the other passers-by appeared to be in no hurry. Despite the urgency of his mission, he did not wish to draw attention to himself by unseemly haste.
Eventually he reached the T junction at the end of the road. The Fabrikstrasse ran parallel with the Danube, separated from the river by the Untere Donaulände and a park. Trying to look as though he was admiring the architecture, Biggles made his way down the ranks of apartment blocks, searching for the number he had been given. Eventually he found it and halted at the foot of the steps.
Glancing round to see that he was unobserved, he mounted the staircase. He rang the doorbell of the Professor's flat and waited. No one came. Biggles pressed the bell again, letting it peal for longer this time. Still no response. Stifling an imprecation at this setback, Biggles was about to retrace his steps when a young woman came up the staircase behind him. Biggles greeted her in German and enquired after the Professor. She gave him an odd look and commented he must be a stranger. Biggles admitted he was.
That would explain it, she observed, groping in her bag for her door key. Otherwise he would have known that Jews were no longer allowed to live next to normal people.
Biggles bit back an exclamation of dismay and asked if she knew where they had all gone to.
The woman shrugged. "As long as they are nowhere near us," she stated, "I don't care."
Biggles fumed inwardly. "It would be as well to know which areas one should avoid," he remarked studiedly.
"Ach, natürlich," she agreed, nodding sagely. "One cannot be too careful I had heard that there were special homes for them in Krankenhausstrasse," she added.
"I hope that is a long way from here," suggested Biggles.
The woman pulled a face. "Not far enough. I expect the stench can still reach us when the wind is in the wrong direction."
Biggles stifled the urge to give her a piece of his mind. "So close?" he queried.
"Only five or six streets away," the woman told him. "Beyond Weisswolfenstrasse." She put the key in the lock and was about to enter the flat that formerly belonged to the Professor.
"I hope you have had the flat fumigated," remarked Biggles as he turned to leave. "You never know what you might catch from the previous occupant."
The woman turned white with horror as Biggles strode grimly away. He hoped he had spoiled any enjoyment she might have got from her appropriation of the Professor's flat. He had no doubt she would be having the place thoroughly cleaned and disinfected as soon as possible. 'In the meantime,' he thought savagely, 'I hope she has nightmares about it.'
He was still fuming as he retraced his journey. If he had not been so angry, he might not have run into the man to whom they had given the slip at the café. Biggles recognised him just too late to avoid him without giving the game away. Cursing inwardly, he knew he must abandon his visit to the Krankenhausstrasse. The man must have been quartering the streets around the café, hoping to pick up their trail again, Biggles realised. Because he had gone the most direct route to his next destination, he had done the man's job for him.
Bitterly reproaching himself for his carelessness in having forgotten about their tail, Biggles headed for the Museum, determined that his shadow would have a day of culture he would not forget in a hurry.
From the museum, which Biggles explored thoroughly, he led his unwelcome companion to the art gallery. He was unimpressed by the preponderance of "correct" themes, which he was dismayed to find creeping into the gallery's exhibits. He had already noticed the mushrooming of posters in the streets and on public buildings extolling the virtues of the Anschluss and exhorting people to vote yes in the plebiscite. This and the reaction of the woman outside the Professor's flat heightened his sense of urgency to complete his mission. He fretted at the delay, but he dare not risk exposing his hand by going near the Professor while he was being followed. After checking out every floor of the art gallery, he felt he had made his point. It was time for him to go back to his hotel and meet up with Algy again, after which they could try to slip out unencumbered by the Austrian watchdog to continue their quest.
Biggles descended the staircase and made for the exit. As he emerged into the street, he caught a glimpse of his minder in the reflection of the glass door. The man looked tired, Biggles thought with satisfaction as he set off back to the Wolfinger.
When he turned into the lobby of the hotel, Biggles half expected Algy to be sitting in the lobby waiting for him, but there was no sign of his cousin. Biggles asked for his key and noticed with some misgivings that the key to Algy's room was still hanging on its peg on the board behind the desk. He glanced at his watch, experiencing the first stirrings of anxiety that his cousin had not got back before him. The receptionist's warning came unbidden to his mind and he began to regret his decision to split up the party. Biggles hesitated, debating whether to try again to contact the Professor or to wait for Algy and compare notes. He decided to have a drink in the hotel café and make another attempt as soon as Algy got back, thinking that his comrade would not be long. When another hour had passed and there was still no sign of Algy, Biggles began to seriously worry that something unpleasant had happened to delay him.
