Chapter One
West Germany, May 6, 1973
John Bauer was thinking about the Watergate scandal in America. He was looking at the West German newspaper, Der Spiegel, which was about local, and International events across Europe. The Berlin Wall was still up. No one dared to go through the check points to the Resort; no one dared to think about the smell of death in the cold, German air.
He saw the German girl sipping her coffee.
'Entschuldigen Sie, aber sind Sie allein?', John asked her.
'Ja, aber du kannst mich begleiten, Sir', she answered.
'I'm John Bauer', he said in English.
'Katherine', she said.
And he waved at the waiter.
'Zwei Kaffees fur die Dame und mich'.
The waiter nodded, and wrote the orders down on his white colored notebook.
And headed to the small German kitchen through the double doors.
***
John had long, black hair, blue eyes like the ocean, and average height. His face was calm; his focus was on the woman who was sitting next to him. She had brown hair, hazel eyes, and petite. The waiter, Giovanni Hass, smiled at them. 'Here is the coffees, Sir. Miss', he said in English.
'Danke. Wenn wir etwas anderes brauchen, werden wir Sie wissen lassen'.
The waiter smiled, and left them alone.
***
'Why are you in West Germany?', Katharine asked him in English.
'There's the Vietnam War on. Soldiers are out of the Asian jungles, and everyone is being booed when they're home. There's a lot of agitation in my country; there's a lot of crap involving President Richard Nixon over Watergate, the Pentagon Papers, and I needed to go away to West Germany in Europe. The Resort is a place for a vacation; a place to unwind, otherwise I'll be mad', John answered her.
'American is in trouble. I know that. My father lived in Washington, DC, in 1949. He left for Berlin in 1952, when he was accused to be a Communist. Such behavior is concerning these days. Germany is a progressive country. We are paying the price for Adolf Hitler killing six million Jews during the Holocaust during World War II. Such dark times mean that we have to start again'.
'I understand. It was like when President John F. Kennedy, and Robert Kennedy were assassinated in the 1960's', John said.
'Let's dine, and we can talk in the hotel suite'.
'Fine by me', John smiled.
And she did too.
***
Chapter Two
The killer, Pierre Rhine, grabbed the black gloves. He put it on his hands. He had been holding the knife in his left hand; he was thinking about the college girls he dated back in the West German colleges in the late 1960's, early 1970's. Everyone was paranoid over the death of Hilda Kramer, a University student. She had left home to go to the University dorm, and never returned.
Her body was found in the Danube River.
He had waited for the media to leave before he planned the next murder.
***
John paid for the meal which went to onto the bill for the Hotel. Katharine smiled, as they headed to Room 553a.
'There's a movie on television tonight', he said.
'What is it?', she asked.
'The Hot Rock with Robert Redford', John answered.
'I love Redford', Katharine sad.
And she closed the door.
***
Epilogue
The Resort was closed for the night.
By 11:00 PM, the guests, and the employees, were asleep in their rooms, or on the late shift; by Midnight, one hour later, caused the German city to draw to a close. Tomorrow would be a different.321Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjmqAY7fCSS
At least, John hoped so.
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