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. Dramatis personae
Rollo Martins alias Buck Dexter, English author of cheap westerns
Harry Lime, old school friend and idol of Martins
Colonel Calloway, English police officer and observer narrator
Anna Schmidt, actress and Lime's girl-friend, feigns to be Austrian but is Hungarian
Dr. Winkler, Lime's doctor and present doctor at the accident
Colonel Cooler, a friend of Lime
Herr Kurtz, a friend of Lime
Herr Koch, Lime's caretaker and witness of Lime's accident
Mr. Crabbin, representative of the fictitious British Cultural Relations Society
Benjamin Dexter, a fictional novelist
Joseph Harbin, a friend of Lime
. Plot
The story is narrated by Calloway who reconstructs his police files. Rollo Martins travels after the World War II to the into four zones divided Vienna to visit his old school friend Harry Lime, who had invited him to Austria to report on international refugees. When arriving, Martins finds out that his friend was run over by car and died. At Lime's funeral he meets Colonel Calloway who states that Lime was the worst racketeer in Vienna who would have been arrested if he had not been killed. Martins dissents from Calloway because he always regarded Lime as a hero and as an idol. He cannot prove it, because Martins has to leave Vienna tomorrow for lack of money. Fortunately, at his hotel Martins is taken for Benjamin Dexter by Crabbin, therefore he got a hotel room for one week plus expenses, but he must host a lecture and literary discussion. Thus, he starts his own inquiry at first with Kurtz who explains the accident but Martins is not satisfied, he thinks Lime was murdered. Visiting Schmidt, she tells the same as Cooler did, but mentions that even the driver was a friend of Lime. After that, he visits the doctor to question him, but gets no information. At Lime's apartment he meets Koch who reveals that he is a witness who did not give evidence. He claims that there was a third man whom he could not identify. Martins wants Koch to give evidence but he refuses to do it and outraged. So Martins visits Cooler who tells the same story as Kurtz and askes him about the third man, but he has not seen a third man. Then he visits Schmidt again and tells her about his latest investigation, so they decide to question Koch again. As they arrived, Koch was murdered, therefore they fled and Martins went back to his hotel where Calloway was waiting. He tries to escape and was driven to the literary discussion. After the discussion Martins was brought to Calloway. Calloway makes an inquiry about Cooler, Kurtz, Dr. Winkler and Koch. Martins tells him about the third man, then Calloway informs him about Lime's rackets: In those days, only military hospitals were supplied with Penicilin in Austria, thus no civilian doctor or hospital owns it. As a result Penicillin was stolen and sold to Australian doctors for much money. Finally, an organisation was founded and penicillin was diluted. The consequences were that it causes venereal diseases and meningitis. Then he showed evidences that Lime, Kurtz, Cooler, Winkler and Harbin, who vanished, were involved. So Martins gets disillusioned and disappointed about Lime and he wants to leave Vienna, but he cannot because of the Austrian police. Both think that Kurtz or third man killed Lime, so he tries to find third man. After the inquiry he visits Schmidt and tells her all about Lime and as leaving her, he meets the third man who is Lime. He pursues him to an iron kiosk where he vanished, so he informs Calloway. In the meantime Schmidt was to be arrested by the four powers because of her papers. Martins and Calloway find a door in the kiosk with stairs to the sewer system, which was used for smuggling. Knowing that Lime is alive, Martins makes an appointment with him at the Prater´s Great Wheel where he realises that Lime's character totally changed, that he became a man with no scruples anymore, that he betrays and uses persons, but that he still has certain principles. He is godless man, possessed by evil and tempted by money. His only aim is earning money, he is greedy for money, a perversion of values. Visiting Schmidt again, she remains loyal to Lime. At Calloway`s office, he is informed that Harbin was in Limes´s coffin and that Winkler and Cooler will be arrested, but not Lime and Kurtz. Martins decides to be used for bait, because he lost his faith in Lime's friendship. So he makes another appointment with Lime. At the meeting, Lime realises the trap and flees. The police and Martins persecute him through the sewer system and in the end Martins wounds and shoots Lime.
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