The Third Man

Realizing that Martins indeed saw Lime, Calloway consults a map of Vienna to consider how Lime might have escaped. He also makes inquiries as to the whereabouts of Harbin, his informant in the penicillin smuggling ring. Calloway regrets that his assistant let Harbin out of sight but agrees with him that an exhumation of Lime’s grave may be in order. Calloway continues to inwardly reproach himself for accepting the car accident at face value. He interviews Martins, still in his office, about his encounter at the newspaper kiosk. He decides that they should visit the scene together, and Calloway shows Martins that the kiosk is actually an entrance to the city’s labyrinthine sewer system. He explains that the sewer system covers the whole city, which explains where Lime has been hiding. He tells Martins that Kurtz is likely in hiding too and hints that Harbin may have been the man buried a few days earlier.

Martins is stunned and confused by this news, which provides further evidence of Lime’s criminal activity. Calloway tells Martins that only he and Anna could draw out Lime and that Martins should speak to him. Martins agrees but insists that he wants “to clear the whole damned thing up,” adding, “but I’m not going to act as a decoy. I’ll talk to him. That’s all” (65). 

Martins begins his journey with a trip to the Russian Zone of Vienna. His first visit is to Kurtz, who, as it turns out, is not bald—his toupee hangs in the hallway, not on his head. Martins is struck by the sight, wondering if the toupee was purchased as part of the conspiracy to fake Lime’s death.

He tells Kurtz that he wishes to see Lime, ignoring Kurtz’s confused protestations and telling him that he will be waiting at the Prater Ferris Wheel for the next few hours. He finds Dr. Winkler in Kurtz’s kitchen, but still calls him “Winkle,” to the other man’s discomfiture (67). Martins, lost in thought, wonders if he’s awaiting arrest, as Anna’s arrest indicates that Lime still has political clout, or if he’s on a fool’s errand, awaiting a man who in fact lies dead. He hears Lime’s tune, and his friend greets him at last. Calloway notes that Lime’s appearance is no indication of his amoral nature, as he had “a look of cheerful rascality, a geniality, a recognition that his happiness will make the world’s day” (68).

Lime is delighted to see his friend and admits to his crimes. After the two board the Ferris wheel, Lime admits that he staged his own death, assuring Martins that he always intended to have his friend benefit from his business practices. When Martins asks if he has any remorse, Lime looks down at the crowd below and comments on how other people are insignificant, as tiny as they look from the Ferris wheel. He asks Martins, “Would you really feel any pity if one of those dots stopped moving—for ever? If I said you can have twenty thousand pounds for every dot that stops, would you really, old man, tell me to keep my money—without hesitation?” (69). Martins briefly contemplates pushing Lime to his death but continues asking him questions. Lime confirms that Harbin is the man who was buried at the funeral Martins attended.

The two men discuss Anna, and Martins wonders if Lime staged the arrest so that the two could be together. Lime indicates that he’d hoped Anna’s arrest would lead to her deportation because she’d be better off in Hungary than an as an illegal resident of Austria, perhaps hinting that he’d prefer she be far away, where she couldn’t cooperate with the authorities. He’s unmoved by Martins’s reminders that Anna is devoted to him and seems pleased when Martins confesses that he also loves Anna. Lime ignores Martins’s anger at his callousness, reminding him that their friendship has always endured. Kurtz doubted Martins, Lime says, and wanted Lime to “arrange an accident” (70), but Lime refused.

Lime returns to the problem of his own culpability, insisting that he cares only for money, and that any government that claims to care about human life is deluding itself. However, he insists that he remains a Catholic, declaring, “I’m not hurting anybody’s soul by what I do” (71). Lime suggests that Martins join his work and briefly reminisces about school friends. They get off the Ferris wheel, and Lime tells Martins to contact him through Kurtz. As Lime leaves, “Martins suddenly called after him, ‘Don’t trust me, Harry,’ but there was too great a distance now between them for the words to carry” (71).