The Furies by Irving McCabe Page A

assassin came to be inside Schiller’s?’
    â€˜Plain bad luck,’ the chief said before taking another sip of wine. ‘Apparently, a few minutes after we ran out to help Merizzi, a depressed-looking man came into the café, ordered a coffee and sat down at the very table we had just left. Moritz remembered he looked very out of place: furtive-looking, scruffy. So this man orders a coffee and sits there for twenty minutes, looking gloomy, and then outside the café a car comes to a stop. Moritz is curious to see what’s happening, so he goes across to the window and sees it’s the Archduke’s car. Then this fellow leaps up from the table, barges past Moritz and runs out into the street. He pulls a pistol out of his coat pocket and…well, the rest of the story you already know.’
    â€˜Unbelievable,’ Gabriel said, shaking his head. ‘I almost feel sorry for Potiorek. He’ll have to live with this for the rest of his life.’
    â€˜Well that’s quite generous, Gabriel, considering what he did to you after the Archduke died.’
    Gabriel flinched at the memory of Potiorek hauling on his collar. Then his face softened and he smiled.
    â€˜It’s not the first time I’ve been assaulted by a distraught friend or relative of a patient of mine. That, I don’t take personally. But I
am
angry that Potiorek took them to the Konak instead of the garrison hospital. Not that it would have made much difference, I suppose, but what was he thinking?’
    â€˜Colonel Harrach said that Potiorek panicked after the shooting. I suspect he was in shock, just not thinking straight.’
    â€˜Bad decisions all round,’ Gabriel said. ‘Not what you would expect from a good leader. Well, I suppose that’s his career finished.’
    The chief stroked his beard. ‘It certainly doesn’t look good for Potiorek: he invited the Archduke on St Vitus Day, the worst possible time; he was responsible for the inadequate security; he gave assurances for the Archduke’s safety on the return trip to the hospital. There will be a court of inquiry of course, but I suspect he’ll resign or be dismissed as Governor. It’ll be an ignominious end to his career.’
    â€˜And what about the assassin? Anything known about him yet?’
    â€˜A Bosnian youth by the name of Gavrilo Princip, apparently. According to Colonel Harrach, Princip’s a member of Young Bosnia, an organisation dedicated to the creation of a Greater Serbian state. Harrach is certain that Serbian Nationalists are behind this.’
    Gabriel frowned. ‘Wasn’t the youth who tried to assassinate Potiorek’s predecessor a member of Young Bosnia?’
    â€˜Yes. Some chap by the name of Zerajic, but he didn’t do as well as Princip: it’s his skull you saw gracing Potiorek’s desk.’
    Gabriel grimaced. ‘Don’t remind me – it was nauseating, like some gory trophy. I’m surprised at General Potiorek: what kind of man would do a thing like that?’
    â€˜You don’t get to the top without being ruthless, Gabriel.’ He paused. ‘Anyway, you don’t need much imagination to know what will happen next.’
    â€˜We’re going to war, aren’t we?’
    â€˜Yes,’ said the older man, and Gabriel felt a flicker of anticipation. This was, after all, something he had been training for all these years: an opportunity to put to good use the skills he had so painstakingly acquired. ‘I’m certain,’ continued the chief, ‘that Vienna will use the assassination as justification for sorting the Serbs out, once and for all: ever since we annexed Bosnia, the Serbs have been nothing but trouble. And as our 6 th Army is closest to Serbia, you can be sure we will be in the thick of it.’
    â€˜But we should easily defeat the Serbs, shouldn’t we chief? After all, we have twice as many soldiers as they