CHAPTER XIII
THE EXECUTION
The clock alarm went on before 5:30, and Rudolf almost jumped bolt upright in bed. He had slept poorly, with the sickening feeling of being constantly watched. During the long nights when he couldn’t fall asleep, he would listen to the floor, the walls, and the creaking in the dark, never in the same place. He would draw a map of these sounds with his minds’ eye and tried to connect the dots, imagining that someone, a ghost, was floating through the room or walking in the room upstairs. He initially thought that there were mice, ordered a full inspection of the villa’s attic and walls, to no avail. The noises stopped for two days, but then came back, louder and naughtier.
When it was almost dawn and he was still awake, despite the sleeping pills, he would try
