"Michael Moorcock - Seaton Begg - The Case of the Nazi Canary" - читать интересную книгу автора (Moorcock Michael)

flat. His political career took him farther and farther from Munich for longer periods. She, being a young, spirited
woman, had wanted more gaiety in her life and eventually had asked her uncle Alf if he would pay for her to go to
Vienna, where she had more friends and where she could get far better voice lessons than in Munich.
Hitler had objected to this. He had not wanted her to go to Vienna. He had not wanted her to leave their flat. He
was becoming even more suspicious of her. He threatened and wheedled, and it seemed she calmed down. Then, on
the morning he was due to leave for an important speaking tour, there was another row. "It was to involve some crucial
secret meetings, for there are those in our party who do not believe Alf should be courting the rich at all. Yet without
them, we are nothing." Hess paused, his voice taking on an increasingly retrospective tone.
"That same morning, Geli had found one of her pet canaries dead on the floor of its cage. She had become
hysterical. She threatened Hitler. She said that if he did not let her go to Vienna she would kill herself. Then she
threatened to spill the beans about 'everything.'"
"Everything?" Begg lifted an eyebrow.
 Hess did not know what "everything" was, he said. But Sinclair recognized Begg's sudden alertness.
"Well, Hitler's car was to call for him early that morning, after breakfast. He could not cancel his engagements. But
Geli demanded that he either stay with her or let her go to Vienna. Again Hitler refused. Even as he got into the car,
Geli appeared on the balcony above. 'So you won't let me go to Vienna?' she had shouted.
"Hitler's reply had been a terse 'No.' Then the automobile had driven away."
Hours later Hitler was meeting his new backers. He stayed overnight at the Deutscherhof in Nuremberg. There
were many witnesses. At eight-thirty the next morning, the housekeeper, Annie Winter, arrived at
Prinzregensburgstrasse to begin work. The flat was silent. Frau Winter knocked several times, without getting a
response.
Eventually she sent for her butler husband, to force it. They found
Geli.
"She appeared to have shot herself. Beside her lay the dead canary, spattered with her blood. She was shot in the
heart."
Hitler's Walther 9.5 mm automatic pistol lay near her hand. She had been dead for some hours. Hess had been
called. Eventually, he called the police.
"You have to be certain who you call, Sir Seaton. The Munich police have a decided anti-Nazi bias and would love
to use something like this against the F├╝hrer."
The police had soon decided Fr├дulein Raubal could not easily have shot herself at that angle and that she had
probably been murdered. Nobody believed it was suicide.
"And it could not have been Alf, Sir Seaton, however it seems. Alf was miles away, in Nuremberg, when the crime
occurred. You can see how easy it will be, perhaps, to prove he paid someone to kill her. But he loved Geli, Sir Seaton.
He lived for her. He is too gentle. Too idealistic. I fear that if the case isn't cleared up rapidly, by one such as yourself,
it will mean the end of Alf's career and, because he is our most important spokesman, the dissolution of the Nazi Party.
Please stop this from happening, Sir Seaton. Please say you will help us!"
Begg's features were hidden from Hess and the astonished Sinclair as he spoke reassuringly.
"Of course I will, Mr. Hess. It's not the sort of problem one solves every day. And we do love a challengeтАФdon't
we, Taffy?"
The pathologist was taken aback. "If you say so, old boy."
Sometimes even Taffy Sinclair found his friend's game very hard to follow.


CHAPTER THREE
LEADING THE MASTER RACE

Begg's first stop after lunch was to the murder scene itself. Prinzregensburgstrasse was the smart area where
"F├╝hrer" Hitler now lived. On the way, Hess explained how the Winters had called him and he in turn had tried to
telephone Hitler in Nuremberg. But Hitler had already left Nuremberg and was traveling to his next appointment.
Apparently he was singing snatches of song, entertaining the other occupants of the car with jokes, impressions of