APPROXIMATELY 5:45 A.M. THE APARTMENT of Ingrid Macht, 627 West Twenty-fourth Street, New York, New York. This is tape recording SEC-1SEP68-IM-5:45AM-196L.
[Sound of doorbell.]
[Lapse of eleven seconds.]
[Sound of doorbell.]
[Lapse of eight seconds.]
INGRID: Yes?
ANDERSON: Duke.
INGRID: Duke, I am sleeping. I am very tired. Please call me later in the day.
ANDERSON: You want me to shoot the lock off?
INGRID: What? What are you saying, Duke?
[Lapse of six seconds.]
INGRID: Oh, my God.
ANDERSON: Yes. Close and lock the door. Put the chain on. Are the shades down?
INGRID: Yes.
ANDERSON: Get me something—some towels. I don’t want to drip on your white rug.
INGRID: Oh, Schatzie, Schatzie. …
[Lapse of nine seconds.]
INGRID: My God, you’re soaked. Here … let. …
ANDERSON: Not so bad now. It’s inside now. …
INGRID: Gun or knife?
ANDERSON: Gun.
INGRID: How many?
ANDERSON: Two. One high up, just below my wishbone. The other is down and on the side.
INGRID: Did they come out?
ANDERSON: What? I don’t think so. Brandy. Get me some brandy.
INGRID: Yes … let me help you to the chair. All right.
Don’t move.
[Lapse of fourteen seconds.]
INGRID: Here. Shall I hold it?
ANDERSON: I can manage. Ah Jesus … that helps.
INGRID: Is it bad?
ANDERSON: At first, I wanted to scream. Now it’s just dull. A big blackness in there. I’m bleeding in there. I can feel it all going out … spreading. …
INGRID: I know a doctor. …
ANDERSON: Forget it. No use. I’m getting out. …
INGRID: And you had to come here. …
ANDERSON: Yes. Ah … God! Yes, like a hound dragging hisself so he can die at home.
INGRID: You had to come here. Why? To pay me back for what I did?
ANDERSON: For what you did? Oh. No, I forgot that a long time ago. It was nothing.
INGRID: But you had to come here. …
ANDERSON: Yes. I came to kill you. See? Here … look. … Two left. I told you I’d get you out some day. I promised you. …
INGRID: Duke, you are not making sense.
ANDERSON: Oh, yes. Oh, yes. If I say. … Ah, Jesus … the blackness. … I can hear the wind. Do you want to yell? Do you want to run into the other room, maybe jump out the window?
INGRID: Ah, Schatzie, Schatzie … you know me better than that. …
ANDERSON: I know you better … better than that. …
INGRID: It’s worse now?
ANDERSON: It’s coming in waves, like black waves. It’s like the sea. I’m really getting out, I’m getting out. Ah, Jesus. …
INGRID: It all went bad?
ANDERSON: Yes. We were so close … so close. … But it went sour. I don’t know why. … But for a minute there I had it. I had it all.
INGRID: Yes. You had it all. … Duke, I have some drugs. Some shmeck. Do you want a shot? It will make it easier.
ANDERSON: No. No, I can handle this. This isn’t so bad.
INGRID: Give me the gun, Schatzie.
ANDERSON: I meant what I said.
INGRID: What will that do? How will that help?
ANDERSON: I promised. I gave my word. I promised you. …
[Lapse of seven seconds.]
INGRID: All right. If that is what you must do. It is all over for me, anyway. Even if you died here this instant, it is all over for me.
ANDERSON: Died? Is this the end of me then? Nothing any more?
INGRID: Yes. The end of John Anderson. Nothing any more. And the end of Ingrid Macht. And Gertrude Heller. And Bertha Knobel. And all the other women I have been in my life. The end of all of us. Nothing any more.
ANDERSON: Are you scared?
INGRID: No. This is best. You are right. This is best. I am tired, and I haven’t been sleeping lately. This will be a good sleep. You won’t hurt me, Schatzie?
ANDERSON: I’ll make it quick.
INGRID: Yes. Quick. In the head, I think. Here … see … I will kneel before you. You will be steady?
ANDERSON: I will be steady. You can depend on me.
INGRID: I could always depend on you. Duke, do you remember that day in the park? The picnic we had?
ANDERSON: I remember.
INGRID: For a moment there … for a moment. …
ANDERSON: I know … I know. …
INGRID: I think I will turn around now, Schatzie. I will turn my back to you. I find I am not as brave as I thought. I will kneel here, my back to you, and I will talk. I will just say anything that comes into my mind. And I will keep talking, and then you will. … You understand?
ANDERSON: I understand.
INGRID: What was it all about, Duke? Once I thought I knew. But now I am not sure. You know, the Hungarians have a saying—“Before you have a chance to look around, the picnic is over.” It has all gone so fast, Duke. Like a dream. How is it the days crawl by and yet the years fly? Life for me has been a bone caught in my throat. There were little moments, like that afternoon in the park. But mostly it was hurt … it was hurt. …Duke, please … now … don’t wait any longer. Please. Duke? Schatzie? Duke, I. …
[Lapse of five seconds.]
INGRID: Ah. Ah. You are gone, Duke? You are finally out? But I am here. I am here. …
[Lapse of one minute fourteen seconds.]
[Sound of phone being dialed.]
VOICE: New York Police Department. May I help you?