AUSTRIA: Murder on the Express?

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On the dead man's body were his dip-Ipmatic passport, personal papers, $180, and Bob Vogeler's silver cigarette lighter. In his compartment, luggage and attache case were intact. No signs of robbery or struggle were evident.

Intuition. Austrians sensed something more than an accident in Karpe's death. "POLITICAL MURDER IN LUEG TUNNEL," cried a Salzburger Nachrichten headline. Golling's Dr. Wilhelm Gugl noticed almost no blood on the spot where Karpe was supposedly dashed to death. Had the American been killed before his body fell into the tunnel? His remains were so mangled that an autopsy was useless.

Vienna's diplomatic circles looked on Karpe as no ordinary attache. A frequent visitor to the Austrian capital, he had unusual intelligence contacts. He had left Bucharest at a time of crisis in the Balkans. Possibly he had information regarding Russia's spring plans for dealing with Tito. One American, with long experience in central Europe, speculated;

"Karpe's death could be an integral part of the cold war—the logical extension of Bob Vogeler's trial. An international train passing through the wild mountain country of U.S.-occupied Austria could be the perfect place to murder a diplomat who had probed too deeply behind the Iron Curtain. Karpe's rank was high enough to leave the impression they want: maybe they can't arrest and try foreign attaches, but they can take care of them just the same, the way they took care of Karpe."