Apt Pupil (1982), a Crime Novella by Stephen King: summary

Apt Pupil (Summer of Corruption) is one of four novellas in Different Season. The setting is in July 1974-1976 in Santo Donato. The story follows a paper boy who plays dangerous friendship with a Nazi war criminal. Once he knew an apt pupil to his mother, but his wild obsession turns him to be a killer, and he enjoyed it. The adaption film was in 1998.

The story brings the readers to numerous facts of dark history of the Nazi concentration camps: the gas showers, the experiments -trying to mate woman with dogs -putting the identical twin in refrigerator -implying the electroshock therapy- doing operations without anesthetic, the melted golden teeth into money, and the clothing factory in Patin.

Although the main character is only a boy, but due to some rather serial sadistic murders I am not sure this novella will fit for younger readers. However, anyone with any appreciation for history, or enjoy crime suspense, will enjoy this novella.

Apt Pupil (1982), a Crime Novella by Stephen King: summary

He looked like the kind of kid who might have a paper route, and a matter of fact, he did the Clarion in Santo Donato. Todd Bowen was thirteen years old, five-feet-eight and a healthy one hundred and forty pounds, hair the color of ripe corn, blue eyes, white even teeth, and lightly tanned skin marred by not even the first shadow of adolescent acne.

His father was an architectural engineer who made forty thousand dollars a year. His mother had majored in French in college and had met Todd’s father when he desperately needed a tutor. She typed her manuscripts in her spare time. She had kept all of Todd’s old school report cards in a folder. Her favorite was his final fourth grade card on which the teacher had scratched: ‘Todd is an extremely apt pupil.’

He wanted to hear about German doctors trying to mate woman with dogs, putting the identical twins into refrigerators to see whether they would die the same time or if one of them would last longer, electroshock theraphy, and operation without anesthetic, and the German soldiers raping all the women they wanted.  

Dussander was on a photo of him in SS greatcoat in one of the library books. His ambition was to be just followed the order. He brought some evidences, three Xeroxed photographs. The first showed him in is office at the Patin resettlement camp. The second was a picture that had been taken on the day of his enlistment. The last showed him shaking hands with Heinrich Gluecks, who had been subordinate only Himler himself. Todd handed him too a copy of Israeli want-sheet on Kurt Dussander. Himmler called him as an efficiency expert and gave him a medal. Todd just wanted to hear about the gas showers, the experiments, and everything about the camps.

Dick Bowden, Todd’s father, was thirty-eight. He was a thin, a narrow man who liked to dress in Ivy League-style shirts and solid-color suits, usually dark. He and his son were friends, and Dick wanted things to stay that way. They had no secrets from each other, none at all (except for the fact that Dick Bowden was sometimes unfaithful with his secretary, but wasn’t exactly the sort of thing you told your thirteen-year-old son).

He was dressed in his best suit, and although the evening was damp his arthritis had been remarkably mellow-nothing but an occasional twine. He hadn’t been out dinner in nine years. During the meal he had discussed his made up job in Motor Company. He had explained about the death of his fictitious wife.

Todd got himself into a real crack with his grades, his father thought Todd were spending too much time with Dussander. The guidance counselor, Edward French, sent a letter to Todd’s parents for his academic problem. Todd didn’t want to attend summer school, his parents has arranged summer holiday to Hawaii. Dussander ordered Todd to study at his place, now fourteen, his report got better. He stabbed another wino thirty-seven times. He threw his Swiss Army knife into the river. Again he killed another winos, Todd killed winos for no specific reason.

The boy turned to be wild and mad, even his wet dream in Nazi camp. He was happy to punish old Dussander- forcing him dressing in the SS uniform. He had wanted to make him appear lunatic even more than he had wanted to make him appear authentic.  As for Dussander he felt disgust and discomfort. He was the boy’s prisoner, and every time he found he could live through yet another dignity, every time he felt that mild relief, the boy’s grew power.

He supposed he had the boy to thank for the new method of queting him, for showing him that the key to the past terrors was not in rejection but in contemplation and even something like friend’s embrace. It was true that before the boy’s unexpected arrival last summer he hadn’t had any bad dreams for a long time with his past. He did it like camp oven, he threw his pet cat lively to the oven, he twisted the oven dial over 500 degree.

The Israelis would not scruple at the fact that he was seventy-six. The death- penalty was still over there, especially when the man in the dock is a Nazi war criminal associated with the camps. Seven hundred thousand died at Patin. He was monstrous war criminal. Todd Bowden had criminal knowledge of illegal alien, but he didn’t report it. The two dealt sink and swim together on the issue. If he couldn’t fool one public school teacher, he would pull his winding-shroud around his and crawled down into his grave.

Rubber Ed French (his nickname, Todd had explained to Dussander, referred to the rubbers he always wore over his sneakers during wet weather. He had majored in Educational Psychology, and he privately considered himself to be the only good guidance counselor he had ever met. He had real rapport with his kids.

Now, as Todd’s grandfather came into his office, Ed French stood up respectfully but was careful not to come around his desk to greet the old man. Ed studied the slightest touch of an accent, but it wasn’t the intonation of the British upper class; it was broader, more European.

Almost ten years of experience in the counseling business had convinced him that when an uncle or an aunt or a grandparent showed up for a conference, it meant usually meant trouble at home. Dussander explained his son, Dick Bowden, and daughter-in-law, Monica Bowden, were having domestic problems in their home- the mother’s drinking problem- his son was more married to his job than he was to his wife. A history teacher claimed Todd passed in finest term-paper she’d seen in twenty years of teaching. It was on the German death-camps during World War Two. He impersonated his grandfather, Victor Bowden.

Arthur Denker was in his seventies. He had just past his mid-sixties when he came to Santo Donato. He had come to California when his wife died. He was not rich, but tended what he did have with great care. He was lonely, his only friend was the boy who sometimes came to his house to read him. In Germany he had owned a beautiful Saint Bernard. Now in Santo Donato, he had a house with a good-sized back yard. The yard was fenced, he had read paper.

He ran away to South America with his gold that had been melted down from Jewish teeth and his silver melted Jewish jewelry and his numbered Swiss bank account. He invested his money on stock to a banker, Andy Dufresne, who jailed for double murder of his wife and her lover. Dussander rented a safety deposit box. The bank officer explained the old man that he would a key and the bank would have a key. To open the box, both keys would be needed. The contents of the box are inventoried.

Todd had friends, but none he trusted much. When Dussander drank his accent became thicker. It was an accent Todd had come to hate. Now he felt okay about the accent and everything. As first the old man disliked the boy a great deal, then he grew to enjoy his company, although there was still a strong element of dislike there.

For Kurt Dussander, the winos were a half-cynical propitiation of gods he had finally recognized. The winos were fun, they made him alive. The idea of propitiating gods would have startled Todd at first- but it might have gained eventual acceptance. After stabbing the wino under the train platform, Todd had expected his nightmares to intensify. He had Nazi’s camp dreaming, killing Dussander.

During the first quarter of his senior year, Todd joined the Rifle Club. Later he qualified as a marksman. He made All-Conference in football again and made the third highest score in school’s history. He applied to university and was promptly accepted.

Dussander had heart attack and Todd the one who called the ambulance. Morris Heisel broke his back. Moris himself was nearing sixty, and had a case of arthritis that worsening early and fast. His first wife had died at age of twenty-five, and both their daughters were also dead. Now he lived with Lydia, his second wife. Lydia, a woman who would have been at home married to Job, went everywhere well-supplied with little lace snotrags, just in case reason for an extended crying spell would occur.

Although he was very ill, Heisel still could see his numerical tattoo on his arm. His first wife, Ruth, had died in on of Nazi’s filthy showers. Both Dussander and Heisel were in same room in hospital. Heisel hardly forgot young Dussander in camp Patin who killed his wife and their daughters. Heisel left hospital and a man named Weiskopf came to Dussander’s hospital bed. Weiskopf wasn’t Mossad, he was a special operative Israeli who thought Yiddish literature and English grammar.

He insisted in denying he wasn’t Kurt Dussander, but Weiskopf would took him soon to Tel Aviv to his death sentence. He had no intention of trying to take his life stupidly. His overdose was discovered and he pronounced dead fifteen minutes later. Todd’s parents were shocked to discover on paper about Kurt Dussander aka Arthur Denker, a fugitive Nazi who committed suicide in hospital.

Ed French was in the small town and lovely seaside town of San Remo for a guidance counselor’s convention. In hotel room he remembered four years earlier Todd’s grandfather retired in that town. He called him and the next day drove out to his address. Victor Bowden had no trace the accent and he had purported to be Todd’s grandfather. Ed French, the guidance counselor from school also read it, he recognized Dussander, the impersonated Victor Bowden.

The local police found the wino’s bodies in Dussander’s cellar, Weiskopf, the Israeli operative, couldn’t easily believe Todd Bowden was only coincidence and the old Dussander had killed all the winos. The police also investigated numerous murdered winos. Several winos told about the two murdered derelicts and several other winos claimed have seen a boy that referred to Todd. The counselor French wanted to talk to Todd’s parents about the school conference and the impersonated grandfather, but Todd pulled his rifle sent the counselor to death. It’s only hours, the police took him down.

09 p.m.

February 12, 2017  

Sekapur Sirih

Apt Pupil (Murid Pintar) adalah novella kedua dari empat koleksi karya Stephen King tergabung dalam Different Season. Pembaca dibawa ke dalam alam experimen investigasi seorang remaja tanggung pengantar koran Todd Bowden selama tiga tahun. Pertemanan beresiko  dengan seorang kriminal perang, mantan pejabat Nazi, hidup dengan tenang di Santo Donato.

Karya ini sarat fakta sejarah kelam Nazi, sederetan tindakan criminal pada kamp konsentrasi Nazi diurai menarik. Dari mandi gas massal, pembakaran massal di oven, percobaan dari para ilmuwan Hitler mengawinkan manusia dengan binatang untuk menciptkan tentara kaut, percobaan bayi kembar yang dimasukkan ke dalam kulkas untuk menguji resistensiya. Latar belakang cerita ada dua yakni tahun 40-an dan tahun 1974-1976.

Novela ini kurang tepat bagi pembaca di bawah umur, karena cerita berkembang pada pembunuhan sadis berantai. Namun jika Anda masih mencari cerita singkat, memiliki plot suspense dan kuat, sekaligus belajar sejarah kelam Nazi dalam bentuk singkat, novella ini layak dijadikan pertimbangan.

Terjemahan dalam bahasa Indonesia Apt Pupil (Murid Pintar), novella karya Stephen King: ringkasan

Layaknya remaja di Amerika, dengan riang sambil bersiul ia mengayun sepedanya. Todd Bowden remaja berusia tiga belas tahun, dengan rambut pirang bak jagung, bermata biru, dan wajahnya berjerawat diselingi bercak-bercak khas remaja kulit putih. Ayahnya seorang insinyur arsitek yang berpenghasilan 40.000 dolar per tahun. Ibunya sarjana Sastra Perancis yang pernah memberi les Bahasa Perancis pada ayah Todd saat pria itu kesulitan mempelajari bahasa asing.  Ibu Todd gemar menglipping  pada waktu luangnya,  salah satu yang menjadi favoritnya adalah sebuah kartu laporan guru memuji putranya Todd sebagai murid pintar dengan sederetan nilai A saat duduk kelas empat SD.

Todd sangat menikmati pekerjaan sebagai pengantar koran lokal ke rumah setiap pelanggan. Lelaki berusia tujuh puluhan, Arthur Denker, langganan yang dingin, menarik perhatiannya. Todd baru saja membaca majalah tua di gudang temannya tentang Nazi. Terkaget, tidak menduga, ketika melihat salah satu foto deretan pejabat sadis Hitler, Kurt Dussander. Semenjak itu, ia membuntuti kebiasaan Denker hingga memastikan sidik jarinya. Remaja itu sangat yakin. Awalnya Arthur mengelak, rupa-rupanya ancaman Todd akan melapor pada polisi, berhasil membuat ia bicara.

Arthur Denker terjepit, mengakui sedikit demi sedikit keterlibatannya dalam Nazi, namun ia selalu mengelak jika ia dituduh sadis. Berkelit, ia hanya melaksanakan tugas. Hanya beberapa tahun saja bergabung dalam militer Hitler dan setelahnya menjadi mekanik otomotif di perusahaan mobil. Pengakuannya sangat bertolak belakang dalam pemberitaan di majalah, Denker disebut lihai berpindah-pindah negara dan identitas untuk mengelabui pengejaran intelijen Israel, Mossad.

Kedua orang tua Todd sangat mendukung cita-cita Todd menjadi seorang penyelidik atau detektif. Ia dibelikan peralatan detektif seperti identifikasi sidik jari. Dengan ancaman akan melapor ke polisi, Todd diterima berkunjung di rumah Denker, keduanya pun menjadi kawan dekat. 

Intelijen Pemerintah Israel masih mencari penjahat perang dan akan menyerat mereka di hadapan hukum. Bukan tidak beralasan, dalam kamp Patin di mana Dussander menjadi pejabat tinggi, menyiksa dan membakar 700 Jahudi. Dussander hanya terhalang satu pejabat di bawah Himler, tangan kanan Hitler. Beberapa foto menunjukkan dia mendapat medali dan berjabat tangan dengan Himler.

Nilai Todd jatuh di sekolah, kuatir meruntuhkan kebanggaan keluarga, ia merahasiakan nilai buruknya. Dia sangat malas mengikuti kelas musim panas, apalagi ia dan keluaragnya telah berencana berlibur ke Hawaii. Surat panggilan guru BP (Badan Pembimbing) sekolah tidak pernah di sampaikannya pada orang tuanya. Ia tidak menyukai guru BP.

Di bawah ancaman, Denker pun mau menyamar menjadi kakek Todd untuk hadir di sekolah. Arthur menyuruh Todd belajar di rumahnya, nilai Todd kembali membaik semenjak itu. Remaja itu pun mengajak teman baru ke rumahnya mengenalkan pada kedua orang tuanya. Mereka tidak terlalu mempermasalahkan Todd sering bermain di kediaman Denker.

Denker menua, sejauh ini penyamarannya tidak pernah bermasalah, Todd pun ikut klub menembak dan ia kembali bermain baseball dan hingga pernah masuk koran. Dengan prestasi olahraga ia pun denngan mudah diterima di universitas terkemuka. Ia menyetir, dan memilki teman wanita. Pertemanan mereka tidak terasa sudah tiga tahun, Todd berusia tujuh belas tahun, dan kondisi rematik Denker bertambah parah.

Gelandangan kumuh yang berada di sekitar terminal bis meminta uang pada Denker. Lelaki tua itupun membawa mereka ke rumahnya- disuruh mandi, makan dan tinggal di rumahnya. Dia merasa senang dan terhibur dengan para gelandangan itu. 

Sejak berteman dan sering mengorek cerita tentang kamp Nazi, anak muda itu sering bermimpi tentang penyiksaan Nazi. Ia pun terobsesi membunuh, Todd tanpa jelas mendekati seorang gelandangan peminum di tempat sepi dan menusukkan pisaunya puluhan kali hingga lelaki itu mati. Baginya terasa puas setelah membunuh gelandangan  tidak berguna itu. Tetapi beberapa tahun kemudian ia ketakutan dan dihantui.

Namun sifat keji masa lalunya tidak pernah ditinggalkan, para gelandangan yang dibawa ke rumahnya dibunuh dengan keji. Kesadisan Denker tidak mengenal usia, sebagian gelandangan dikubur tetapi beberapa korban lainnya membusuk di rumahnya. Todd tidak pernah mengaku pada Denker ia juga pernah membunuh gelandangan peminum.

Semakin menua, berpenyakit jantung, Denker dilarikan ke rumah sakit. Selama di rawat di rumah sakit ia satu ruangan dengan Heisel, seorang tawanan penyintas Kamp Patin. Sangat kaget ketika melihat Dussander dirawat satu ruangan dengannya. Bagaimana mungkin Morris Heisel mudah melupakan wajah si keji Dussander, orang yang membunuh istrinya dan kedua putri mereka. Ia pun keluar rumah sakit, atas laporannya, seorang agen Israel bernama Weiskopf menginterogasi Dussander.

Dussander bersikukuh tidak mau mengaku, apalagi membayangkan dibawa ke pengadilan Israel untuk hukuman mati. Tidak ada rencana dalam hidupnya melakukan bunuh diri; minum obat overdosis. Berita pun tersiar di koran, seorang penjahat perang anggota Nazi yang paling dicari bunuh diri di rumah sakit Santo Donato. 

Tentu saja kediaman Bowden tidak lepas dari sorotan media dan polisi, dan menjadi pertanyaan besar; bagaimana mungkinTodd berteman selama itu tanpa curiga. FBI dan detektif  lokal, salah seorang agen pemerintah Israel memercayai pengakuan Todd begitu mudah, tetapi tidak dengan Agen Weiskopf. Ia sulit memercayai pengakuan Todd dan cerita hanya suatu kebetulan.

Bangkai beberapa tuna wisma di dalam rumah, pembunuhan yang tidak  mungkin dilakukan sendiri oleh Dussander yang tua dan sakit-sakitan. Tidak ketinggalan Guru BP juga membaca berita di koran dan mengenali foto Dussander yang mengaku sebagai kakek Bowden. Pengakuan sejumlah gelandangan mendiskripsikan Todd pernah bersama dengan gelandangan yang terbunuh. Guru BP-nya mendatangi Todd, meminta penjelasan kebohonganya, Todd menembak mati French. Ia merasa lega dan riang- gembira setelah membunuh guru BP, hanya berselang beberapa jam ia pun ditangkap.