“I eavesdropped at the door.”
“How many rooms in the apartment?”
“One room and a kitchen.”
“The lady would be in the room with one of the boys and the others stayed in the kitchen?”
“I don’t know, I didn’t go in. The ladies came alone, sometimes in pairs. Sometimes one of the Schmidts would go out during these visits. Sometimes all of them were there. It varied …”
“And this didn’t disturb the neighbours?”
“There were only two complaints, about the ladies shrieking and shouting … Because there weren’t all that many ladies. Barely more than a handful.”
“Did you ever see these men dressed up?”
“Dressed up?” Frenzel did not understand. “What do you mean? How?”
“Have you ever been to the theatre, Frenzel?”
“A few times.”
“Did the Schmidts ever wear costumes like actors in a theatre? Zorro, for example, knights and so on?”
“Yes, sometimes, when that fat man came for them.”
“What fat man?”
“I don’t know. Fat, spruced up. He drove a car with ‘Entertainment’ or something written on it … I’m not sure, my eyesight isn’t that good.”
“How often did the fat man come?”
“Several times.”
“Did he go up to their apartment?”
“Yes, and then they’d all climb into his car and go off somewhere. He must have paid them well because they’d drink twice as much afterwards and go and have a good time at Orlich’s, not far from here.”
“Did any other men visit the Schmidts?”
“There was one other. But he never came alone. There were always two women with him, one in a wheelchair. He’d lug the wheelchair with the invalid up the stairs himself.”
“Would you recognize the man?”
“I’d recognize the man and the other woman. They didn’t hide their faces.”
“And the one in the wheelchair?”
“The cripple always wore a hat with a veil.”
“What did the man look like, and the other woman, the one who wasn’t an invalid?”
“I don’t know … He was tall, she had red hair. A pretty woman.”
“How old?”
“He was about fifty, she about twenty.”
“Weren’t you surprised when those four men disappeared? Why didn’t you report it to the police?”
“Surprised? Yes, I was surprised. Sometimes they’d drink for two days at Orlich’s before coming home, but now a whole week … As for the police … Sorry, I don’t much care for the police … But I would have reported it today anyway …”
“Why today?”
“The Schmidts were always here on Saturdays because that man with the girl and the invalid came on Saturdays.”
“Are you saying they came regularly, every Saturday?”
“Yes, every Saturday. At the same time. But not together. First the man with the invalid, then a few minutes later the red-head.”
“At what time did they come?”
“They’ll be there in about half an hour.” Frenzel pulled out his watch. “Always at six.”
“Were they there last Saturday?”
“Yes. But without the red-head.”
“Was that the last time you saw the Schmidts?”
“No, it was the previous day. The fat man came for them in his car. They went off somewhere.”
“How do you know they were at home on Saturday if you saw them for the last time on Friday?”
“I didn’t see them, but I heard them in their apartment.”
“You eavesdropped?”
“Yes.”
“And what did you hear?”
“Their voices, and the moans of the invalid woman.”
“Did you hear the man too?”
“The man? No.”