The Mistery of Belicena Villca
The previous circumstances were no less strange , but I will narrate them to you after we ' ve had dinner --Uncle Kurt said surprisingly . He looked at his watch and took the hand to the forehead in amazement-- . I ' m inconsiderate ! It ' s been five hours entertaining you without contemplating that this is the first time you leave the bed in fifteen days . Are you really okay ? Tell me the truth because maybe it ' s better that you lie down and have dinner delivered upstairs .
--I ' m very well Uncle Kurt --I said-- and if you want to know the truth , what I feel now is hunger . So let ' s have dinner !
– Uncle Kurt laughed joyfully as we made our way to the dining room . An hour later we settled back in the armchairs after having had a cold and light dinner , based on cold cuts and salads , during which we talked about various topics completely detached from the interrupted narrative . At last , over a cup of coffee , Uncle Kurt decided to continue the story . --It ' s a beautiful summer night --he said-- . Clear sky , pleasant temperature , silence and fragrances of the countryside . I propose that we sit under the willows neffe ! You will see that you enjoy the freshness of the night as we move forward with the story . – Oh no , --I replied-- . We ' d better go back to the living room . There we will be more comfortable . I was sorry to spoil Uncle Kurt ' s enthusiasm but I didn ' t want to face the bullmastiffs . I knew that sooner or later I would have to but I would try to make it daytime . The bullmastiffs again at night ? The idea filled me with apprehension , but Uncle Kurt must not have noticed because shrugging shoulders he went to the living room followed by me .
– Three or four weeks after arriving at Crossinsee I returned to Berlin --Uncle Kurt continued narrating-- to interview Konrad Tarstein , my contact at the Thulegesellschaft .
Gregorstrasse 239 corresponded to a run-down house of two plants that must have had more than two centuries of hazardous existence and its only inhabitant , Konrad Tarstein , turned out to be a typical petit bourgeois Berliner , bald , of short stature , endowed with a thick belly , who matched perfectly with the decrepitude of the place .
It is probable that such a place and subject --I thought-- were intended to mislead potential spies or disappoint restless applicants . I suffered the second effect when hitting a moldy ring that rotated inside a fist of bronze doubtfully attached to the rickety door . – Yes ? --asked a strident voice emerging from some undefined place . – I ' m Kurt von Sübermann --I said , turning to the tiny spyhole that I had finally discovered in one of the door panels , from where a couple of elusive little eyes watched me impatiently . --Herr Rudolph Hess sends me ... The door opened and a small , chubby figure appeared , hand politely extended to greet . – I am Konrad Tarstein --he said-- . Come in , I was waiting for you . The interior did not improve the initial impression at all . Furnished with manifest bad taste , in a careless mix of forms and styles , some minutes in the house were enough for anyone to be discouraged that , there , something important could be dealt with . And yet I expected a lot from the Thulegesellschaft in which , according to Rudolph Hess , I would find an answer to all my questions .
Sitting in a ridiculous Louis XV armchair , which seemed to have nothing to do there , in front of a Norman table and some friar chairs , I watched in surprise that Konrad Tarstein was getting ready to fill out a card . It was the furthest thing from a spiritual activity that I could imagine and that is why I hesitated when giving my personal data , an attitude that Tarstein mistakenly interpreted as a product of fear .
– Fear not --said Tarstein-- the books of the Order could never be found . I can assure you , Herr Von Sübermann , that there has never been a major leak on details of the Cult or the identity of our members . We have suffered desertions and some minor betrayal , but always at the superficial levels of the Order , and by people who did not possess a very precise knowledge of the internal organization . – Do you receive many applicants Mr . Tarstein ? --I asked . Konrad Tarstein looked up from the card and stared at me for a few long minutes with curiosity . At last , as if he realized an oblivion or omission , he put a hand to his forehead as his face lit up with a smile .
– The laconism of Rudolph Hess ! --he said as if he was thinking aloud-- . His eternal and timid laconism . I should have assumed that you would not be aware that this interview is not part of any regular practice at the Thulegesellschaft . Tell me , Kurt von Sübermann , what information did you receive from Rudolph Hess to get here ?
I answered him fully about everything I knew about the Thulegesellschaft : what Rudolph Hess had said in our talk at the Chancellery , graduation night , and the reference to a “ contact ” in Berlin , Konrad Tarstein , stated in his letter that came to my hands through the SS Oberführer Papp .
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