The Shadowboxer (6 page)

“The prisoner,” von Schleiben interjected, “will refrain from using the word ‘Standartenfuehrer.'”

“List your occupations prior to arrest,” Webber continued.

“Doctor of brain surgery, psychoanalyst, criminologist, professor, author, lect—”

“Were you a full professor?”

“Oh, quite assuredly, Herr Stand—Excuse me. Yes, a full professor.”

“Where have you taught?”

“The University of Vienna, the University of Heidelberg, Princeton University—that is in the United States of America, Standartenfuehrer—Oxford Univ—”

“What subjects did you teach?”

“Criminology, Stand—criminology. Most particularly the area of criminal pathology and, to a lesser degree …”

Platt stared intently at the witness.

“Have you written books on the subject of criminal pathology?” Webber continued.

“Precisely eleven, Standartenfuehrer. Eleven volumes, of which five—”

“Then you could be considered an expert in the field of criminal pathology?”

“There was a time—”

“Prior to arrest, what was your name?”

“Excuse me, Herr Stan—”

“What was your name before you were arrested?”

“… My name?”

“Yes, your name.”

“Oh … of course. I was—I am Professor Franz Josef Tebet—”

“This is an outrage,” Platt shouted, jumping to his feet. “Obergruppenfuehrer, Herr Webber has intentionally deceived and insulted this body by confronting it not only with a degenerate, but with a notorious and unconscionable charlatan as well. Even his fellow Jews have disavowed his mad rantings. If the facts be known—”

“If the facts be known,” Webber countered, “Herr Platt was once a student of this so-called heretic, a student who twice failed the examinations.”

“That is a lie, an abject lie. I demand—”

Von Schleiben's fist crashed onto the table. “Sit down.”

“But—”

“Down.”

Platt hesitated, flushed, then slowly lowered himself into his chair.

“If you have a request,” von Schleiben announced with benevolence, “it will be made in ordinary tones, not at the top of your lungs.”

“I request the removal of the charlatan, Obergruppenfuehrer,” muttered Platt.

“Request noted. Webber, continue, but be warned: the introduction of alien and degenerate philosophy will not be tolerated.”

“Of course, Obergruppenfuehrer.” Webber turned back to Tebet. “Have you read the dossier and other material relating to Erik Spangler?”

“I have read it most thoroughly, Herr Standartenfuehrer,” Tebet replied, wiping the perspiration from his forehead.

“From the material presented you, is it possible to determine the date or dates on which Spangler will attempt to free Hilka Tolan?”

“Most definitely, Herr Standartenfuehrer.”

“What are those dates?”

“The twenty-sixth of this month. It is possible he might appear on the eighth or the seventeenth of next month, but I would think such a delay is most improbable.”

“Which material on Spangler led you to this conclusion?”

“The Chronology of Events.”

“The three-page Chronology of Events in the Spangler Dossier?”

“Yes, Standartenfuehrer.”

“The dossier contains over eight hundred pages,” Webber commented in feigned amazement, “yet you contend that only three pages were required to establish the date of escape?”

Platt began to rise, but von Schleiben motioned him down. “Herr Webber,” he counseled sternly, “whatever point you are trying to make with this witness, get on with it.”

“Certainly, Herr Obergruppenfuehrer.”

Webber motioned. Typewritten pages were distributed.

Von Schleiben stared down at the sheet.

EXHIBIT V

“Explain!” Webber commanded.

Tebet cleared his throat. “You see in front of you—”

“Louder!”

“You see in front of you,” the prisoner repeated more audibly, “the list of dates extracted from the Chronology of Events in Spangler's dossier.”

Tebet paused for reproaches. None came. “The word ‘Ebansee' beside three of the dates shows the only times Spangler returned to a concentration camp more than once. Those dates which are underlined indicate when a murder was committed. There are two important factors to note: first, the numerical dates of Spangler's first three escapes—the eighth, the seventeenth and the twenty-sixth; and, second, the numerical dates immediately following a murder.”

Webber motioned. A second sheet of paper was distributed.

EXHIBIT VI

“In Exhibit Six, the days have been divided so that the dates following a murder are more clearly evident. We see at once that each column, with the exception of the last, F, starts with either eight, seventeen or twenty-six—the same pattern established with Spangler's first three escapes in Column A.”

Tebet hesitated. Von Schleiben was staring at him curiously. Platt was busy making notes. “As for Column F, the ninth of January, it ostensibly indicates that day on which Vetter was first reported to have been freed by Spangler. It has subsequently been established, however, that Vetter left the compound slightly before midnight on January eighth. Thus we see that the eight–seventeen–twenty-six combination holds throughout. One can conclude, without hesitation, that once Spangler commits a murder his next escape will take place on either the eighth, the seventeenth or the twenty-sixth day of a month.”

“But no murder has been committed,” Platt yelled triumphantly. “Vetter was not killed, simply freed. Therefore, by your very own logic, Spangler could come for the Tolan woman on any date. Any date at all! So, Herr Professor of Criminal Pathology, how do you explain this contradiction?”

“Must Herr Platt shout at the witness?” Webber asked von Schleiben.

“Let the degenerate answer and I'll whisper. Let him explain the fact that his prediction is based on a murder that never took place!”

“You will stop shouting and you will sit down,” von Schleiben warned Platt. “And you, Herr Webber, will instruct the witness to answer the question. How does he explain a prediction based on a murder that never occurred?”

Webber nodded to the balcony.

Tebet's thin, dry tongue tried to moisten the cracked lips. “My prediction is simply deduced from the patterns of behavior found in the Chronology of Events. The eight–seventeen–twenty-six sequence shows us Spangler's
safe
numerals—those days on which he
will not
commit a murder. Actually, his key
safe
number is eight. I'm certain all of you have noticed that the one and the seven of seventeen add up to eight, as do the two and the six of twenty-six. To be specific, we should say that Spangler shows us he is incapable of committing murder on the numeral eight or any numbers that total eight.

“Since it is the Council's contention that Spangler will be coming for the Tolan woman, that the Tolan woman is important to him
alive
, it would seem apparent he would not want to hurt her in the process of escape. To insure such protection, Spangler will elect a day when his impulse—or ability—to murder is either negligible or nonexistent. He will attempt to release her on a
safe
day, on an eight day—either the eighth itself, the seventeenth or the twenty-sixth. He freed Vetter on the eighth of this month; the last of the intercepted messages to the Tolan woman came on the seventeenth of this month; that leaves him the twenty-sixth. It is my conclusion he will come for her next week on the twenty-sixth.”

Platt's motion to be heard was ignored by von Schleiben. “I take it, then,” the General said to Tebet, “you have little doubt that this revised Spangler Dossier records the activities of one man—not five, as had previously been assumed?”

“In my humble judgment, Obergruppenfuehrer, the revised dossier depicts the mental and emotional processes of a unique, assimilated personality,” Tebet replied. “A personality which could scarcely belong to more than one individual.”

Von Schleiben leaned forward, set his elbows firmly on the table and laced his stubby fingers under his chin. “Point out some of these mental and emotional ‘processes' for us.”

“The eight–seventeen–twenty-six pattern is the end result of just such a situation, Obergruppenfuehrer. To better understand the dynamics, we must go back to the beginning of the dossier's Chronology of Events and trace the time lapses
following
a murder.

“We see that Spangler frees eight prisoners before killing his first victim, an exterior guard at Mauthausen. All eight escapes occur within a three-month time span. The longest term of inactivity during this period is sixteen days. Yet after murdering the guard he does not reappear to free another prisoner for over
forty
days. After his double murders of October fifth and sixth he remains inactive for more than
eighty
days. Subsequent to the murders in April he does not return to the camps for better than
one hundred and twenty
days. Then, curiously, he kills again on October twelfth, but is back at the camps within a month.

“This forty–eighty–one-hundred-twenty–day time lapse following murders is a common response syndrome in the evolution of certain types of pyschopathic assassins. We can now safely assume that the exterior guard at Mauthausen was the first man Spangler has ever killed. We are also certain that this initial slaying was unintentional not premeditated. The guard most likely stumbled upon Spangler and the prisoner Rissner when they were in the process of escaping. Spangler strangles the guard with his belt. Spangler then plunges into a
forty
-day period of trauma and self-evaluation.

“That the murder was motivated by self-preservation seldom enters the slayer's mind in such cases. Instead he becomes obssessed with the beast that rages within him. Now that the beast has come out, will he take over for all time or can he be checked—can he be pushed back into his cage? Defenses must be sought out and developed. Thus Spangler begins his search for controls during the
forty
-day recovery period.

“Man's reliance on superstition or mysticism in time of crisis is age-old. Spangler, we see, believes that either geographic locations or numerical dates may be the antidote for his dark urges. At the end of the
forty
days he returns to Gusen, on June eighth, and frees his next prisoner without murdering. He returns to the same camp on the same numerical day as his first recorded escape in February.

“Spangler now tests numerical dates against location. His next escape occurs on June seventeenth, the same-number day as his second recorded escape assist in February at Flossenburg, but instead of going to Flossenburg he picks Bergen-Belsen. Once again he does not murder.

“Numbers appear to have a more controlling effect than geography. Even so, the Chronology shows that Spangler reaches a far more drastic conclusion at this point: stay away from concentration camps altogether and the impulse to kill will stop, the beast will be neutralized. That such an attempt was made can be seen in the period immediately subsequent to the June-seventeenth escape—Spangler was inactive for over four months. This too is a common syndrome among first murderers. They move to different cities or countries, often change names or occupations, sometimes even religions, to appease their phobia.

“Up to this point Spangler was hardly the pathological assassin he considered himself to be. He was simply a man who had killed another man accidentally and was exaggerating the event. All things being equal, Spangler would never have killed again. But an incident now occurs which is the
turning point
in his mental and emotional processes (it is always the second murder that shapes the assassin, never the first): Spangler gets word that the Gestapo has captured an intimate friend and underground associate, the man Tramont. Spangler fights all temptation, but finally breaks his resolve. He penetrates the Gestapo prison and manages to get into Tramont's cell. He finds that Tramont has been beaten too badly to escape, that he is in great agony and close to death. It is quite likely that Tramont pleads with Spangler to put him out of his misery. Spangler kills him—”