"INSPECTOR REX" "Did you offer Gerasdorfer the papers?" "Why not?" "He buys anything that looks like a share." "I think it's time for me to be discharged." "No idea." "Maybe a few more days." "Tell Behring to call me." "It's urgent." "Good." "Anything else?" "Okay." "That's all." "Accident ward" "Good morning, Mr Lanz." "Morning." "I've been in strange beds under better conditions." "Well..." "How can I pay my tribute today?" "Another X-ray?" "No, I'll take blood from you." "+A second blood sample?" "Six months ago my GP gave my blood the all-clear." "A routine check." "We do it before every operation." "One after the other?" "My operation can't be such a big thing." "I hit my knee hard on the wheel." "That's all." "Don't get upset, Mr Lanz." "We're doing all we can for you." "hiv antibodies..." "Positive." "What are you doing?" "What's... what's this?" "I have aids?" "I can't give out any medical information." "No comment." "Is it true?" "Take this." "It will calm you down." "Mr Lanz..." "Calm down." "Mr Lanz, please wait." "Leave me alone." "Please!" " Hi, Sylvia." " Hi, Stefan, how are you?" "I'm fine." " How long will you be there?" " A few more days." " Are you meeting today?" " Yes." "Do you mind that it's without you?" "No." " Who will be there?" " Everyone." "Except Astrid and Paul." "She's on duty, he's away in Salzburg." "Have fun." "Thanks." "Get better soon and keep in touch." "I will." "This is Stefan Lanz's answering machine." "You can't reach me right now, but please leave a message." "Speak after the beep." "Interconsult here." "An urgent message for you." "It's about our foreign exchange transaction." "Please call my office or home at once." "Thanks." "Paul!" "Stefan..." "What are you doing here?" "Aren't you in hospital?" "We must talk before you go to Salzburg." "Why?" "What's up?" "You didn't stick to our rules." "You're mad." "What does that mean?" "I'm in a hurry." " You played around." " What?" " You played around." " No." " You did." " Damn it..." "No." "Liar!" "Okay, yes." "What the hell!" "I'm not the only one." "What?" "You're naive." "Paul?" "What now?" "Rex?" "Rex, time to go!" "Where are..." "Where is he?" "Damn it!" "Work every Saturday!" "You scared me all right." "You won." "Let's go." "Think up something new and hide somewhere else." "You've hidden in the bath three times." "Thanks, Rex." "No more now!" "Off we go." "Didn't you say you had a car accident?" " Aren't you in hospital?" " I took a day off." "So you could come tonight?" "Yes." "So I could come tonight." "Excuse me, please." "I heard you couldn't come." "If I'd known you'd be there I'd have changed my shift." "Listen..." "You know what?" "Scare Stockinger." "Scare Stockinger, right?" "Come." "Rex, creep up on him and scare him." "Morning, Richard." "Where's the dog?" "In the car." "We're off." "Where's H"llerer?" "With Forensics." "He'll be back." " Any news?" " Everything's quiet." "So that's it." "You've trained him to get free breakfasts." " Scaring only me bores him." " Fascinating." "What about my ham roll?" "That's his ham roll." "You were meant to just scare him." " You threw it away!" " All right." "You'll buy me two ham rolls now." "One to compensate me, the other for damages." "With cucumber." "What?" "What?" "Yes." "Where?" "Fine." "We'll come." "A male shot dead, 1 8th district." "Five shots from a hand gun." "9 millimetres." "We secured two projectiles." "Some residents heard the shots." "So we know the time." "I see." " Any other clues?" " Nothing specific." "Did anyone see the murderer?" "A tenant found him soon after." "She saw nothing." "The man was Paul Koblenz." "He owns an advertising agency." "H"llerer's checking his flat upstairs." "He was going to Salzburg today." " Who?" " Koblenz." "It's in his diary." "Fine." "Let's go and check his agency." "I'll go and tell H"llerer." " Yes?" " H"llerer!" "What?" "We're on our way." "Stockinger!" "We must go to D"bling." "A young woman..." "also shot with a revolver." "Still, have fun tonight." "I must stay in hospital." "You'll have fun without me." "See you next week or after, Brigitte." "Right!" " How much?" " 444 schillings." " 444..." "Thanks." " Thank you." "Do you have a light?" "Why?" "Want to set fire to a house?" "Yes." "A gift, compliments of the house." " Thanks." " Have fun." "Astrid Hirt, 26." "A stewardess." "The airline said she was on duty today." "She let the killer in." "He went to the lounge, she went to the bathroom." "You don't do that for the postie, just for a good friend." "Richard..." "Shot at close range, a hand gun, probably 9-millimetre calibre." "Just like the agency guy." "It's possible." "More after the autopsy." "Listen, first you send me to the 1 8th district, then here." "Is a madman running amok?" "Could well be, couldn't it?" "But who would kill an advertising man and shortly after, a stewardess?" "Yes, and in a very obvious way." "In both cases the killer was in a hurry." "He didn't care if the victims were discovered." "Looking for something?" "Hang on." "Out there." " Koblenz..." "Here's his name." " See?" "So the two knew each other." "That's a clue, Richard." "It also means other people are in danger." " Come on, Stockinger." " Where to?" "To the office." "We'll ring them all." "This concerns Miss Astrid Hirt." "Do you know her?" "Yes?" "The number is from his address book." "No need for detailed information." "We're investigating two murder cases." "You too could be in danger." "Do you also know him socially?" "I see." "When did you see him last?" "Have a look, please." "I'll wait." "So why did he take your phone number?" "I see." "Purely business." "Thanks." "Doctors, lawyers, advertising people, car dealers." "The in-crowd..." "Nothing definite." "Thanks." "I've got the names of people he met regularly." "We're only halfway through." "What about Sylvia Hohenberg?" "Her line's always busy." "Why don't you try again?" "Women love talking to you." "My car's still being serviced." "I must go to the castle urgently." "Please, Angelika." "A date with a client." "They might not even buy that old dump." "What can I do?" "That's what I'm paid for." "Yes?" "You're a darling." "I'll come over." "Bye." " Where can I reach him?" " Tell him it's urgent." " My name's H"llerer." " Bye." "First it's engaged, now there's no answer." "There's a certain Martin Macho." "He belongs to Astrid Hirt and Koblenz's circle." "Follow it up." "And you, Stockinger?" "There isn't much." "I'm after a Stefan Lanz." "I just heard he's in hospital." " And did you ring?" " No rush." "I have 1 5 more." "Then I'll ring." "Which hospital?" "The Central Hospital.." "I've known it since my stomach operation." "Don't brag about your stomach operation." "We all have ulcers." "My scar is 1 2 centimetres long." "Moser from the police." "Which ward is Mr Lanz in?" "Moser from the pol..." "Moser, Crime Squad." "I want to talk to Mr Lanz." "Since when?" "I'll come over." "Lanz disappeared from hospital this morning." "Come, Rex." "Look, maybe he was just frightened of surgery." "1 2 centimetres." "Send someone to Lanz's place." "Okay, I'll come over." "You last saw him this morning." "Did he behave strangely?" "Or did he say things that seemed strange to you?" "No." "He just wondered why I was taking blood a second time." "Is that unusual?" "Not in this case." "Come on, Sister." "What was it?" "Patients don't normally run away." "He made a lot of phone calls." "Maybe that was the reason." "And there's no other reason?" "No." "I don't know." "So he came here after the accident." "Sorry, I can't comment on medical results." "This doesn't get us anywhere." "Sister..." "It could be that Mr Lanz shot two people dead today." "His blood results were hiv positive." "aids?" "No, hiv positive means antibodies are in his blood." "The symptoms are called aids." "In such cases we do another test to be safe." "Hence the second one." "And?" "Did he know about it?" "Yes." "He saw the report." "It was my fault." "I forgot to lock the filing cabinet." "Sister Erika." "Yes, Professor, the patient has been X-rayed." "All right." "Didn't you have to tell him anyway?" "No." "We don't tell them after the first test." "Only if the second is also positive." " It's not always the case." " But it usually is." "Mr Moser..." " Don't tell the doctor." " Are the second results out?" "No." "The laboratory is short of staff." " Call me when you have them." " I will." "Bye." " Well, Mr Macko..." " It's Macho." "Macho." "A certain circle of people meet regularly." "Astrid Hirt and Paul Koblenz belong to it, right?" "I've told you before." "So what do you want?" "To find out about Mr Lanz." "He was always there." "Not always, just often." "Is Stefan in trouble?" "Maybe." "Were there any quarrels or petty jealousies?" "No." "Or it wouldn't have worked." "We're sort of a closed circle." "Understand?" "Where and when do you all meet, Mr Macho?" "It varies." "Lately we've met in a castle near Vienna." "A luxury place, all right." "Who paid the rent?" "Nobody." "Sylvia works for an upmarket real estate agent." "She has the key." " Any news about Lanz?" " No, he wasn't home." " A neighbour saw him." " When?" "At about 1 0.30." "She says he was in a hurry." "No need to hunt down his car." "It's a write-off after an accident." "Organise a search." " What's going on here?" " This is Mr Macho." "He also belongs to Lanz's circle." "He's not exactly talkative." "I see." "You'll be in trouble if we don't find Lanz soon." "Stefan?" "Stefan's my friend." "Right." "And also a friend of Miss Hirt and Koblenz." "Yet he probably shot both of them dead." "What?" "But that's..." "Mr Macho told us the group has been meeting in a castle recently." "Always at weekends." "The same eight people." "Astrid and Paul were part of it." "For what purpose?" "We had parties." "Parties!" "Out there is a nutcase who'll kill you and others." "So?" "They were..." " Meetings." " What meetings?" " What sort of meetings?" " Just meetings." "We wanted to have fun." "Do you understand?" "Yes, I do." "Mr Lanz found out in hospital he's hiv positive." "And probably got infected in your group." "For heaven's sake." "Yes, for heaven's sake." "Mr Macho, who are the other persons?" "Sylvia Hohenberg," "Gaby, Kurt and Brigitte." "Were you able to talk to anyone?" "No, only Mr Macho." " What's the castle called?" " Waldstein Castle." "It's been empty for some time and up for sale." "You met at weekends for those little games?" "Today's Saturday." "As from midday the castle is an open house." "Let's drive straight over, Stockinger." "H"llerer, try to phone some of them." "I'm onto it." "And me?" "What about me?" "You'd better stay here." "Thank you." "I'll make my own way back." "Have a nice weekend." "Bye." "Kurt?" "Brigitte?" "I'm here." "Stefan!" "Aren't you in hospital?" "We talked on the phone this morning." "I didn't want to miss our meeting." "I thought you had to stay in hospital." "Is everything okay?" "I mean the accident..." "It's not a problem." "But... there's other news." "Where are the others?" "They'll come later." "I'm glad we have a moment to ourselves." "What's the matter with you, Stefan?" "Are you on medication?" "No, no drugs." "They only told me I have aids." "You didn't stick to the rules." ""Nobody plays around outside our group."" "You're criminals." "Brigitte!" "Try to call the caretaker again." "No one seems to be here." "No car, nothing." "Damn answering machine!" "Take cover, Rex!" "On the tower!" "Covering fire, Stocki!" "Now!" "Tell them to leave, Stocki." "Clear off!" "Hurry!" "The caretaker's on the phone." "He says there's a secret passage leading to a bathroom with access to the upper rooms." "You enter by a small iron gate at the back." "I'll try the other side." "Okay." "Come, Rex." "Come, Rex." "Stay behind me." "Petrol..." "Rex..." "One more move and everything will go up in flames." "Listen, Lanz..." " I want to talk to you." " I don't want to talk!" "Not with anybody." "I'm not one of your low-class bank robbers." "I know." "That's why I want to talk to you." "Well?" "Come up slowly and push your gun to me." "I'll decide myself when I'll die." "Creep up on him and scare him, understand?" "Creep up and scare him." "Lanz..." "What?" "Changed your mind?" "No." "Coming!" "Right." " Listen, Lanz..." " Stay where you are!" "Don't think you can outsmart me." "All the doors are closed." " I want to help you." " Help me?" "What nonsense." " Nobody can help me." " You can't get out without me." " I don't intend to get out." " So you'll kill yourself?" "By shooting?" "Suffocating?" "Burning?" "Not a pleasant way to die." "Better than dying slowly of aids." "You didn't wish that on the two you killed." "Exactly." "Tell them to stay away or you'll be first." "Okay, okay." "Calm down." "Stockinger..." "You can go down now." "Outside." "Believe me..." "I want to help you." "I'm not your enemy." "We agreed... that no one would play around." "Only with each other..." "I trusted them." "But I was the only one who stuck to the rules." "Enemies..." "Enemies everywhere." "You're wrong." "The others might also be victims." "Innocent victims like you." "A successful life was ahead of me." "Now it's behind me and I don't give a damn who's guilty." " May I?" " If you like." "You can even surround the castle." "But don't make a mistake in this room." "Are you 1 00 per cent sure, H"llerer?" "Well..." "I understand you but..." "What's this supposed to be?" "Tell me." "A psychological tactic?" "No, it's just..." "I can imagine... the prospect... of spending one's last days in prison... can be... frightening!" "The phone call... came from the hospital." "You're not hiv positive." "The second test was negative." "Not true." "I have aids!" "aids!" "The first test said so but the second was negative." "It's not true." "Not true!" "It's not true." "Tell me it's not true." "Please." "No..." "Hey, Rex." "What's wrong?" "Stay calm." "Well done, Rex." "Gently does it..." "Come on." "I'm Moser from the police." "What happened?" "You got shot in the shoulder and had shock." "The doctor says you'll be okay soon." "What about the others?" "They're okay." "We warned them in time." "He said he..." "I came to tell you Mr Lanz is not hiv positive." "I thought you might sleep better." "Thank you." "Rex!"