Chapter 17
"Play something for me, Nodame." Weiss suddenly remembered the presence of the young pianist.
"Why should Nodame play for you?" Nodame muttered sullenly.
"In celebration of love and music..."
"Celebration? Love?" What do you know about either? "And if Nodame doesn't?" She asked defiantly. "Are you going to kill Nodame like you killed James?"
"Kill you?" Weiss scoffed. "Why would I want to do that? It would be like smashing a priceless Ming vase into a million pieces." After wondering how deep her interest in Beresford ran, he added, "If by 'James' you mean Beresford, he's fine... Just a little shell shocked." Weiss roared heartily, enjoying his own joke.
"It's not funny." Nodame scowled.
"Oh, I'm deadly serious but it's necessary to lighten the mood now and again."
"Well, Nodame is in no mood to play. Least of all for you."
"I hope you change your mind, Mrs Chiaki. You never know... the lives of your husband and your friends could be at stake."
"Are you threatening me?"
"You? Never... but I cannot guarantee the safety of the others. They must be punished." A little black radio attached to Weiss' belt cackled and screeched. He slipped it out of its hiding place and walked out of earshot to avoid being heard.
When that conversation was over, he returned and straightened his tie, "It looks like the cavalry has arrived. You, Megumi Noda... are just the right person tto play Ravel's Les entretiens de la Belle et de la Bête..."
The sound of car doors slamming shut could be heard two blocks away. Inspector Moser, showing workman-like efficiency, was the first to arrive and emerge. He was followed by a blaring contingent of transport vehicles and their occupants taking their turn to position their vehicles behind his. Amidst the blinking of lights and idling engines, the inspector gathered his officers around him and barked out orders. Moser was a minimalist but the men and women were accustomed to his modus operandi.
"Tread carefully. We don't know what little surprises await us. Our priority is to extricate Mrs Chiaki and bring her out alive."
In what appeared to be a matter of seconds, squads of uniform and plainclothes detectives were geared up and raring to surround the place. With the police scrambling around the park, the Wurstelprater instantly became a hive of activity.
"Is such a show of force, necessary, inspector?" Chiaki was surveying the place, looking concerned.
"Hard to say Mr Chiaki... but I certainly hope not. Now please go back into the car and let me do my job."
Feeling unjustly rebuked and powerless, Shinichi turned to return to the car, not at all looking forward to more waiting. That was when he heard his father call out from a distance.
"Shinichi..." The father looked like he was limping awkwardly towards his son.
"Dad... what are you doing here? I thought you went home."
"Well, I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd follow and see if everything was alright."
"You didn't have to."
"Of course, I did. My daughter-in-law is in some kind of trouble. My son needs me. Even if... I can't do much." He was speaking slowly and deliberately. "I want to be here."
"How did you find us?"
"I know a guy..."
Shinichi studied his father's face carefully before saying, "The police won't let me near the place. This is as close as it gets."
"Understandable..."
The two men stood in companionable silence, watching and waiting. Although not knowing what to say, Shinichi felt oddly comforted by the presence of his father next to him. While there were too many years lost between them for easy conversation, a seed of hope had been planted. Ironically, it was the woman for whom they were both fearful that had finally brought them together.
Ten minutes into the search and rescue, a member of the team raced up to the inspector with a poster-sized cardboard under his arm.
"We found this, sir..."
"Where?" Moser grabbed the note and spread it over the boot of his car.
"Over by the ball factory... the target seems to have barricaded the entire building. Couldn't get through the door, short of blowing it up. Thought you might want to see this first before we did that."
The note was printed in spectacular looking calligraphy... unnecessary, of course, but spoke volumes about the author's apparent need to assert his superiority.
To whom it may concern
Let me start by assuring everyone that Mrs Chiaki is at present safe and that my intentions are entirely honourable.. However, I will be unable to guarantee her safety if members of the Vienna police force insist on storming through the premises armed for an all out attack.
I have a simple proposition that will require the cooperation of Messrs Chiaki, Stresemann and Vieira, all of whom I am quite certain are all eagerly awaiting news of Mrs Chiaki. If they are amenable, I wish to direct them to the Ball Factory but only them. If I so much as catch a faint whiff of trickery, I will release the cyniade gas into the air immediately and the world will mourn the loss of four great musicians.
So what will it be... Inspector Moser? You have twenty minutes to respond so don't take too long.
"Damn..." The normally calm and collected let slip an expletive. From experience, the inclusion of civillians in such hostage situations was unpredictable – more often than not leading to sticky situations. Situations that he had very little control over. He didn't care for it at all. Nonetheless, the threat had to be taken seriously and assessed. Moser was well aware that he did not know Weiss well enough to be certain if the the threats were empty or real. Clearly though, the president of the Conductor's Guild was trying to remove the police from the equation... but to what end? There were too many questions... too many unknowns. Like it or not, he needed the conductors to force Weiss out into the open. So it was against all his better judgement that he strolled toward the three conductors to inform them of the good news.
"I don't like it."
"Like it or not, he specifically asked for us, inspector."
"I won't be able to protect you."
"I don't care. Nodame's safety is my only concern."
"At the risk of three other people? I don't like the maths."
"Stresemann and Vieira sensei don't need to be there. I could go in alone. It's me he wants anyway."
"Of course, we do, Shinichi..." Vieira elbowed the German conductor next to him and glared at him. "Right Stresemann?"
"Yeah... sure..." Stresemann shuddered. What are the chances of any of us coming out of this alive?
"It's our choice, inspector."
"It's too late to wire you men." The inspector growled. "If you insist on committing this act of suicide... Chiaki, give me your mobile. Don't worry, I'll give it back to you. Leave it on and keep it with you at all times. At least we'll be able to keep tabs on you this way."
It's alright, Nodame... I'm coming... Even if something happens... at least we'll be together...
The younger Chiaki almost forgot that his father was there, listening to everything.
As he got ready to leave, his father spoke up. "Shinichi... Stay safe. Don't do anything reckless... I want to see you both at the wedding. Both of you..."
"Dad..." Shinichi whose heart was already racing madly, was at a loss for words. "I...I..."
"It's okay... we can talk later. Just bring Nodame home. I'll be waiting right here."
Shinichi nodded hesitantly, turned around to take one last look at his father and headed for the designated meeting place.
The lights that were hung all around the ball factory glittered prettily in the darkness. An unlikely villain's lair. So this was to be their place of judgment. It was hardly a place to inspire awe or fear. The facade looked inoffensive, not so different from any other attraction in the park to suggest its importance. In a way, that was almost reassuring. The sort of place parents would gladly let their children loose in.
The double doors came together with a loud explosive-like boom behind them. In that second, the three men jumped thinking that their doom had come.
Inside, the ball factory looked like it had been stripped. Pipes, tubes, ducts, cords and other bits and pieces were strewn all over the floor.
"Charming..." Stresemann mumbled. "Weiss has been doing some redecorating..."
"Wonder if he really means what he said about... releasing cyanide gas..." Vieira cast his eye around the room for possible danger spots.
"Thanks. As if I need to be reminded about that."
"Ssshh... the two of you... sounds like someone's coming."
Sure enough soft footsteps were headed in their direction and in their wake emerged an untidy young man, dressed in a tatty shirt and jeans. He was making complaining noises in his native German and rattling a black box with metallic switches. Seeing the three men securely in the premises, he heaved a sigh of relief.
"Ah the remote control worked. The doors did close." The young man shook the black box in his hand. "These things are so unreliable."
"Who are you? Where's Weiss?"
"I'm Fritz... I've come to take you to him. But first these are your blindfolds."
"So we can expect to come back out alive?" Stresemann squeaked hopefully.
"It's hard to say with the boss... depends on what kind of mood he's in."
"And what sort of mood is he in?"
"He's being Othello at the moment." The boy called Fritz said circumspectly. "Or is Iago?"
Dear God...
"Either way, he's waiting for you..."
"Mrs Chiaki, is she alright?" Chiaki asked tentatively.
"She's alright... she's holding up better than expected."
Chiaki's shoulder slumped. At least she's safe.
"But you guys should really worry about yourselves. You must've done something to really tick him off big time."
"Apparently..." Chiaki turned around and faced the two older with a grimness that added years to his handsome face. "So where are we going?"
"Down... gentleman... you are going down..."
Before any of them could say anything, an opening leading to a cavity in the floor boards opened up and sent them flying down to wherever "down" was. A trapdoor. Weiss was no doubt showing who was master of the situation.
"Kabuki... just like kabuki..." Chiaki frowned.
"Well, it is an amusement park." Vieira's good humour remained intact despite the unique circumstances. "Long time since I've been on a slippery slide. Good fun."
"Wonder where this leads to..."
Nodame, I hope...
"What's the point of the blindfolds... it's not like we'll be able to get back up there the way we're going down." Chiaki took his blindfold off and flung it over his shoulder disgusted. Sheesh... what's the point of all this pretense. What's Weiss up to really?
"Do you think there are snakes at the bottom?"
"Stresemann!"
"I hate snakes...and dying. And dying of snake bites."
"Stresemann... please..." Wonder why we brought him along.
"Do you hear that?" Stresemann cocked his head to one side.
"Hear what?"
"That... the sound of a piano..."
II
Chiaki ran... as soon as they reached the bottom... as fast as his legs could carry him towards the music and the light. It's her... She's playing... Les entretiens de la Belle et de la Bête from Ravel's Ma Mère l'Oye. I'm getting close... Thank God she's alright...
Forgetting himself or the reason why he was there, Chiaki stood at the entrance completely riveted by the piece. Her music, despite everything that had happened, was dazzling... I'd rather die first than lose all this...
"Nodame." Chiaki could barely speak or master the barrage of sensations that were threatening to overcome him. "I'm so glad."
The pianist stopped abruptly as if she had been woken while in the middle of a dream.
"Husband..." Nodame gasped and stood up. He came... A large weight fell of her shoulders. For me...
Weiss was grinning from ear to ear. "Hello Chiaki. You made it. Nodame was just giving me a personal recital. I can see why you find it hard to share her with anyone."
It's not just about the music... you imbecile. "Yeah, I made it." Nodame thought that Chiaki looked like he had just returned from a bad day with the orchestra. "Nodame... you okay?"
"Nodame's okay." Better now that Shinichi's here.
"Good. C'mon... let's go... I'm going to take you home."
Nodame tried to wriggle her legs free. "I... I... can't..." He can't see that I'm tied down.
"Not so fast, Chiaki. I didn't bring the lovely Mrs Chiaki here just so you can take her home just like that."
"Really." I had to try... "I hope I don't have to remind you that she is my wife."
"I haven't had my fun yet..."
"Sorry to disappoint. Nodame... let's go"
"Ah ah ah ah... you didn't think it was going to be so easy, did you?"
"This is absurd..."
Stresemann and Vieira by that time had caught up. They took their places behind Chiaki and peered over his shoulders.
"Alex, stop this ridiculous charade at once."
"Ah... so the great Franz Streseman has condescended to make his presence felt among us." Weiss made little attempt to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. "The great maestro speaks and the rest of all must obey."
"Alex... why... why drag Nodame into this? You have no quarrel with her. She's completely innocent. Why didn't you just come for us and leave her out of this?"
"Because she is important to you... all of you, Vieira... She is the focal point of everything. Without her, none of this would work. None of you would have come. None of you would have taken me seriously."
With Shinichi totally exhausted, mentally drained, it didn't seem too difficult for the older man to gain the upper hand in this battle of wits. After all, he had been preparing for this confrontation for weeks.
"If you so much as lay a finger on her, I will... I will..."
"What will you do, Chiaki?" Weiss was calm... too calm for Chiaki's liking. "Hurt me? Unlikely, in the condition that you're in right now. Don't worry she's more valuable to me alive and I get much more satisfaction proving to her that you are an unworthy husband than hurting her. Violence is messy and for barbarians. I am capable of much more finesse than that I would hope."
"What are you up to, Alex?" Stresemann shot him a dour look.
"I am going to turn her..."
"Turn her?" The other three men echoed.
Weiss nodded. "She is going to find out just what kind of evil you men are capable of."
"You are insane." Chiaki was trembling with indignation.
"Am I? Perhaps you're the one who's insane. Take you, for example. A young couple on their honeymoon – and what do they do with the most romantic time of their life? Work. It's laughable. Are they so dedicated to their craft that they are willing to forego the comforts of the marriage bed? Or are they hiding the truth which is the fact that their marriage is a sham. Perhaps the truth is that the husband can't wait to get away from his wife, leaving her vulnerable to the devices of a notorious ladies man. Perhaps the truth is, he doesn't love her as much as he claims to..."
"This is preposterous."
"Is it any more preposterous than a man abandon his wife for his job?"
"I did not abandon her. We agreed together to do this. And don't forget that you connived to keep us apart as much as you could."
"Well... I will admit I helped matters along but the cracks were already there."
"What cracks? Don't speak of things you don't understand." Chiaki was almost shouting. "Why am I even trying to explain this to you?"
"From my perspective I understand that you've put the interests of the guild ahead of your marriage."
"So what if that's the case..."
"Ah... but remember you are the one who told me that a man can have ambitions and be a devoted husband."
"But what has any of this to do with you? Whatever decisions we make as a couple is our business, you are interfering in something that you have no right in doing so."
"It is my duty and my responsibility to protect her and her gift. Your ambitions will be her downfall. This marriage to you will be her destruction. The world will no doubt lose a great musical treasure as a result."
"Isn't that Nodame's choice?" The pianist attempted to throw in her two cents in the thick of the heated exchange. "Nodame wanted to marry Shinichi."
"Sssshhh... Nodame... you poor deluded creature... it's okay. I will fight for you." He brushed her off as if she was a weak-minded child.
"But I don't want you to fight for me."
"I stayed single so that I could devote myself to music. You can too."
"But I don't want to. I like being married to Shinichi."
In spite of all her protestations, Weiss was utterly oblivious. He was a man obsessed on one point... and no amount of reasoning, it would seem, was about to move him.
"Nodame, my dear. In time you will appreciate what I'm trying to do. You may not see it now but he is not a good husband for you."
"This is not for Herr Weiss to decide. Nodame has decided and Nodame is happy with her decision." From her entire expression, Nodame was clearly bewildered by the meaningless exchange. And people think Nodame is strange?!
"Don't you understand, Nodame... a man who puts his career ahead of his wife is not to be relied on."
Chiaki was exasperated. It was useless arguing with a brick wall. Weiss was immovable and was apparently not interested in playing by the rules. There was only one thing to do.
"Okay... you win, Weiss... you can have my job... and you're welcome to it."
Vieira and Stresemann waved their arms frantically, horrified at the prospect. "Shinichi... no... Have you gone mad..."
Weiss looked at the young conductor quizzically. "Just like that?"
"Why... were you expecting me to put up more of a fight? So you can play your mind games? Convince my wife that I am a soulless, ambitious moron unworthy of her."
"I thought..."
"Well, you thought wrong. You don't know anything... Weiss... it is because of her that I have any ambitions left to follow. There is a history that you know nothing about so don't impose your history on mine. I was a soulless, despondent moron but she... brought the joy of music back into my life..."
"Husband... Shinichi... you don't have to..."
"I do have to... he needs to know that his schemes are nothing... they are child's play. A bitter man who thinks that the world must suffer with him because he did not do what was necessary to get his heart's desire."
"You don't know anything about me!" Weiss snapped with a slight tremor in his voice.
"But I do." Stresemann re-entered the conversation with surprising energy.
"Stay out of this, Stresemann."
"You asked for us, remember? By name, I seem to recall." Stresemann looked unperturbed. Like a snake poised for attack. "Suddenly you don't want us here. I'm hurt, Alex."
"I doubt that."
Without warning Stresemann sobered. "Leave the young people alone, Alex. We are responsible for putting him into the position, so direct your anger at us."
"The great Franz Stresemann taking responsibility..." Weiss sneered. "This is a day of surprises."
"The gentle Alexander Weiss kidnapping a woman." Stresemann was unfazed by the obvious dig. "Is probably the biggest surprise of them all."
"I didn't kidnap..."
"So you say..." Stresemann paused for second and then continued. "But the bottom line is Anna's gone, Alex... nothing you say or do is going to bring her back."
"You leave her out of this, Franz..."
"How can I... when it's obvious that she's the reason behind this madness?"
"She's not!" Weiss was gesticulating wildly.
"She left you, Alex... but that was her choice."
"That man corrupted her..." Weiss was now mopping his brow feverishly.
"Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. But that doesn't make it less true that she made the choice to leave you."
"Stop it... stop it..." Sweat was pouring down his neck.
"You never quite forgave her... and yet you never stopped loving her..."
"Don't presume to know how I think or feel..."
"Then why do you do the same with Chiaki and Nodame..."
"Your affection for them blinds you..."
"Possibly but so does your affection for that woman." Stresemann took out his watch and looked at the time. "She was not the innocent you thought she was."
"You didn't know her." Weiss challenged.
"Didn't I? Can you be sure of that?" There was an inscrutable look on Stresemann's face. "There weren't too many men in our line of work she didn't know on an intimate level."
"You're abominable, Stresemann. Insinuating that she was a loose woman...."
"Well, you can't be sure that she wasn't... can you? Despite your brief association..."
"She loved me!"
"Yeah... so much that she married another..."
"Stop it..."
"I think you know the truth and always have but you just couldn't deal with it..."
"That's enough... No one is allowed to insult her memory."
While Stresemann was having his war of words with Weiss, Chiaki noiselessly stole over to Nodame's side and quickly untied the ropes. Once she became free of them, she threw her arms around him in glee. Something of the weariness she'd been feeling fell from her eyes.
"Shinichi... I missed you..." She murmured into his coat.
"I know... I miss..." The warmth of her person next to him made him feel that somehow he had come home. "I'm so glad..."
"You smell so good..." She snuggled up closer. "Much more than usual."
Chiaki was painfully tempted to kiss her but the thought that Weiss would swing around at an inconvenient moment and catch them in the act held him back. Now that he had her back in his arms, there was no letting go. Weiss would have to pry them apart with something akin to a crowbar.
Meanwhile, Chiaki watched as the puppet master was sounding more enraged by the minute. Still, he was no match for the calculating Stresemann, who was playfully sidestepping him at every turn.
Stresemann sure knows how to push all the right buttons.
Neither of them, however, noticed that the music had not ceased despite the fact that Nodame was not longer tinkering with the keys. Ravel's Beauty and the Beast was still humming in the background and the music was now coming from the piano itself.
In his rage, Weiss broke down and was sobbing bitterly. "Anna... no... Anna..." was all he would say repeatedly for some time.
Suddenly, as he did earlier, his demeanour changed completely. As if someone had flicked a switch. He wiped away the tears and made an ominous announcement.
"It doesn't matter... none of this matters anymore. None of you are leaving here alive." He wagged his finger in all seriousness.
Well, maybe Stresemann pushed him a little bit too hard.
"What have you done, Alex?"
"That... piece... that Nodame was playing, Beauty and the Beast... I found a copy of the music roll played by the composer himself. When she stopped playing before... the music roll took over... it activated a mechanism that I placed in the Bechstein. If you don't play the right tune to counter it in time, it will release the cyanide contained in the pump. You only have one chance at this."
"How long do we have?"
"Ten... no... five minutes..."
"Well, tell us what the tune is..."
"No... not on your life.. if you're so smart... you work it out..."
"Alex... tell us..."
"Never..."
Weiss backed away from the rest of the party and in his haste, tripped over a piece of cord that stretched from the Bechstein to the power outlet on the other side of the room. He fell back and hit his head. In an instant, he was knocked out cold.
"Great... just when we need him too..." Stresemann bent over and reached to feel Weiss' pulse. "Well at least he's not dead."
Vieira sighed. "How are we going to work out which tune it is? We may as well resign ourselves to being gassed to death."
"Can't we just try to get out of here..."
"In five minutes? How? We didn't come in through the front door."
Chiaki groped around desperately for an answer. Everything Weiss did and said meant something. All of sudden, he stood up straight and asked. "Nodame... was it his idea for you to play Beauty and the Beast?"
"Sure, husband... he said I was the right person to do it... He said I had the child-like quality to convey the beauty and texture of the piece."
"Where's that piece of paper... where's that piece of paper..." Chiaki fumbled through his pockets, muttering to himself.
"What is this, husband?"
"He sent everyone in the hotel these childish rhymes... some of them well-known nursery rhymes... Sometimes in English, they are called Mother Goose... Ma Mere l'Oye..."
"Do you still have them, Chiaki?"
"I think so..." If I haven't left them in the car... "But only the ones he left at the dressing room."
The search didn't take long. "I found it!" He yelled desperate and relieved.
Instantly, everyone crowded around Chiaki to have a better look.
"There are four different rhymes here... so which one is it?" The young conductor murmured.
"How can we choose? There's nothing to indicate a connection with the Bechstein."
"Try the third one... it's the only one with Japanese in it..." Nodame exclaimed excitedly.
Chiaki turned to look at his young wife. It does make a certain kind of sense....
He said I was the right person to do it... He said I had the child-like quality to convey the beauty and texture of the piece.
"The third one, it is..."
"Are we sure about this? We only get one chance, remember."
"Considering his obsession with Nodame... There's a certain logic to it. Furthermore, of all of us who is the best placed to understand how he thinks?"
Silence reigned. An imaginary clock was ticking in the background. Everyone knew that the longer they tarried, the shorter their chances.
"It's our best bet..."
"Just do it Chiaki." Stresemann offered his hand to Vieira and both men shook hands. "Just in case we don't make it... it was... er... nice... er... doing business with you, Vieira."
"You too... Stresemann..."
Chiaki resisted a desire to smile. Strange bedfellows... my two mentors. "Nodame, why don't you play it? I'll sit with you."
"Er... but Nodame doesn't know it..."
"I'll hum it..." Let's hope I remember it correctly.
Chiaki had no trouble recalling the melody. It was a simple one... annoyingly repetitive. There was something memorable about Pop Goes the Weasel, despite its incomprehensible words to the unenlightened... and helped by the fact that every single music toy since the invention of musical toys has it in its repertoire. A catchy number that lingers...
"Are we going to die?" Nodame asked mournfully.
"I don't think so... Just play it... I believe in you, Nodame..." I always have.
"I hope we go to heaven together..."
"Just play it." Annoyed, all three men shouted in unison.
The pianist closed her eyes. Her hands glided along the keyboard as she attempted to transpose the music. In mind's eye, she pictured a monkey chasing the weasel, up and down the tree, the house and everywhere her imagination took her. Carried away by the moment, she picked up the pace.
So immersed was she in what she was doing, Nodame was blissfully unaware that the player piano mechanism was hissing frantically and making a whole gamut of ear-splitting and foreboding noises under the keyboard. Smoke was rising out of the Bechstein and rapidly surrounding the room.
Reacting quickly, Chiaki pushed her off the piano and they both tumbled onto the floor. He threw himself on top of her and immediately cupped her chin and covered her lips with his. No hesitation, no doubts. In that moment all feelings of fear left him. At least you can't get into trouble without me now. Like a man who had completely embraced his fate, he gave himself over to the kiss. All the things he wanted to say but couldn't was embodied in that moment... the sweetness of their lips fused together for one final time. Chiaki closed his eyes and surrendered all his emotions, allowing himself to be crushed by the potent symphonic strains that filled his mind.
So many things... so little time...
Still not everybody gets to die with the person they love.
My only regret... is that we never got to perform together...
My beloved...
Author's Notes:
Chapters 16 and 17 were originally meant to be one chapter but it just got longer and longer and very unwieldy. I didn't feel comfortable leaving you hanging with just the previous chapter and yet I felt that trying to force the two chapters together would be over much. Anyhow, I don't mind saying it was a tough two chapters to put together. I had all these bits of dialogue in my head and it wasn't just about organizing them chronologically but deciding who should say what etc. and trying work out the backdrop to them.
Thank you for waiting and reading. Please don't ever hesitate to leave any comments you may have.
Thanks to all the amazing people who wrote and said how much We Don't Say Goodbye moved them. It was very reassuring especially when I was imagining how much hate mail I was going to get for it.
Credit must be given to the Player Piano Page for the useful information I received regarding the history and technical specs of the Pianola in its various incarnations.