Casebook 4: A Score Settled - 4.6[index]
I packed my bags for Vienna with a heavy heart. I already knew what I would find. There was no suicide, only murder. And I even knew who committed it. The Sweetheart Club had struck again in full view of us all – they had even announced the crime a year in advance. And yet I also knew that what I would find in Vienna would be as baffling and bizarre as its announcement. I was not to be disappointed.
The Hotel Ludwig, Vienna was an old, iced cake of a building, melting perceptibly in the full glare of the reflective city heat. Draped above the entrance was an elaborate banner:
A doorman stood blinking into the sunlight almost motionless in his heavy ornamental coat. I introduced myself and asked for Inspector Taub. He shuffled uncomfortably, produced a taut smile and motioned inside.
“The garden, sir.”
I asked him what the banner said. He produced the smile again slowly and said: