by Dora Heldt
“Yes.” Kalli looked around proudly. “We’re drinking to my new granddaughter, Anna-Lena. Here’s to her.”
Hannelore Klüppersberg lifted her wineglass again.
“And to her charming grandfather.”
“Charming? Well.” Onno looked skeptical, but drank anyway.
Mechthild Weidemann-Zapek looked around her, intrigued.
“Christine, you said people dance here. But I don’t see a dance floor. Is there another room?”
I shrugged. “I didn’t know the Shark Bar that well, I’m sorry. It seems people don’t dance here after all. They just drink.”
My father nodded. “Yes, it doesn’t really look like a dance club. But it doesn’t matter; I’ve got a dodgy hip you know, so I wouldn’t be able to keep up anyway.”
Luckily, he didn’t notice Mechthild’s giggling and winking in my direction. I ignored her. Hannelore turned around to Onno.
“You’re one of the locals. Where do you normally go dancing?”
Onno gave a start. “I never go dancing. You’ll have to look for someone else. The only time I go out is to play cards.”
“Speaking of someone else…” Mechthild turned around to Marleen, one of the butterflies tumbling out of her hair in the process and falling into her wineglass. “I saw that good-looking young man with his luggage earlier, that Herr Thiess. Has he left already?”
Marleen watched the sequin butterfly circling around in the glass. “Yes, why?”
“Oh?” My father looked at me. I concentrated on wiping drops of condensation away from my glass.
Frau Weidemann-Zapek wouldn’t let it go. “But he was planning to stay a week, wasn’t he? That’s what he told us the day before yesterday when we had coffee with him. Did something happen?”
Marleen looked indifferent. “I didn’t ask. It’s no one’s business. Maybe he just didn’t like it here.”
My father was immediately outraged. “Didn’t like it? But Nordeney’s beautiful. The beaches, the town, and the lovely weather. I have no idea what more he could want. What kind of idiot is he?”
I was just about to defend Johann and explain everything. But before I could open my mouth, the door opened and Gisbert stormed in. I groaned, but my father jumped up and beamed.
“There he is. Come on, sit down with us.” He turned to the ladies. “May I make the introductions? Frau Weidemann-Zapek, Frau Klüppersberg, these ladies are staying in the guesthouse, and this is Gisbert von Meyer, the journalist.”
Gisbert shook both their hands and bowed. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. May I ask which wonderful area you are from?”
“From Münster-Hiltrup.” Hannelore fluttered her eyelashes. “We’re businesswomen from Münster-Hiltrup.”
“Businesswomen?” That was news to my father. To me, too.
“Of course.” Mechthild Weidemann-Zapek sensed his interest. “We run a crafts shop.”
That explained a lot. Laughing discreetly, I ran off to the bathroom.
Once in there, I checked my cell phone. There was a new text: “I’m back home now. Hope to get everything sorted quickly, so that we can see each other again soon. Johann.”
I washed my hands happily.
By the time I got back to the table the noise level had increased. Hannelore Klüppersberg was giving her impressions of Nordeney, Mechthild was interrupting her again and again, and Gisbert was energetically making notes on a beer coaster. It seemed our star columnist’s article for tomorrow was already taking shape. I could already picture the headline: “Stitch ’n‘ Bitch on the Beach,” “Münster’s Girls Hit the Town,” or “Knit One, Purl One, on the Prowl.”
Gisbert misinterpreted my suppressed laughter and smiled at me longingly. I quickly sat down in a position where I wouldn’t have eye contact with him, but he raised his little behind up and leaned over.
“Christine, have you been to the lighthouse yet? Hannelore and Mechthild were really taken by the view. They were just telling me. It’s really worth a visit, you know.”
I tried not to sound too abrupt. “No.”
“Excuse me?”
“No,” I repeated, more loudly this time. “No, I’ve never been to the lighthouse.”
He’d get a cramp in his thigh soon if he didn’t sit down properly. “Oh, wonderful, then I’ll pick you up tomorrow afternoon. Visitors can go to the tower between four and five p.m. It’s very romantic.”
Now I had no choice but to look at him. “Thank you, that’s very nice of you, but I have a terrible fear of heights. You can take Heinz instead.”
“Since when have you…?”
I kicked my father’s foot. He looked up angrily. “Ouch, you just—”
I patted his hand comfortingly. “Oh sorry, I thought that was the table leg. You’ve never been to the lighthouse either. Why don’t you go instead? Seeing as Gisbert is offering so nicely.”
“Of course.” He nodded at Gisbert. “We can go tomorrow.”
Gisbert smiled thinly. He sat back down and pouted.
“Tell me, Gisbert…” Mechthild Weidemann-Zapek didn’t seem to have noticed the defeat he’d just suffered. “That job of yours, being an island journalist, must be incredibly exciting. I’m not that familiar with how it works though. Do you write about anything and everything?”
Gisbert was in his element again. “I don’t have to, my dear lady, but I can. You know, most of my colleagues have their preferences and dislikes. Some of their articles are very successful, but others just fall flat. My interests, on the other hand, are very broad, so I find I can turn my hand to anything, if I may say so myself. Tourism, sports, politics, prominent figures—I write about everything.”
He followed up the impact of his words with a meaningful look. Onno was yawning, Marleen was whispering to Kalli, but Hannelore and Mechthild had the facial expressions of two teenagers who’d just been allowed out to a rock concert past their curfew.
“Famous people too? Who have you met?” cried Hannelore excitedly. “Are there many stars on the island?”
Gisbert looked conspicuously around him, then lowered his squeaky voice. “They want to have their peace and quiet, and that’s precisely why they come to Nordeney. I hope you’ll understand, ladies, but my journalistic honor requires me to protect the privacy of the rich and the beautiful.”
The ladies looked disappointed.
“So what kind of sports do you cover?” My father had never been interested in the rich nor the beautiful.
Gisbert tried to sound nonchalant. “Everything.”
“What do you mean, everything? What kind of sports are there here?”
“My dear Heinz, I report on the surfing, the high jump competition, the football, of course…”
“Which games?”
“Well, for example, I always write in detail about the Bundesliga teams’ training camp on Nordeney.”
“Which teams train here then?”
Gisbert stiffened his weedy body. “Werder Bremen.”
My father waved his hand dismissively. “Oh, Werder…and who else?”
Mechthild Weidemann-Zapek had started up again. “Couldn’t you just tell us a teeny-tiny name? An actor or a singer maybe?”
Kalli leaned over in their direction and beckoned to them to lean closer. Both women stretched their necks curiously.
“Per Mertesacker.”
They looked at each other. “Oh,” Hannelore said softly.
I heard Marleen’s voice in my ear. “I’ve never heard of him. What was he in, then? A movie?”
“He’s a defender. With Werder Bremen,” I whispered back.
“Gisbert, we can assure you we’re never pushy,” said celeb-hungry Weidemann-Zapek. “You can tell us a few names. After all, we of all people know how important it is for stars to have their privacy. You know, pretty much everyone in Münster-Hiltrup knows us. It isn’t always easy, and…”
Gisbert thought for a second and then leaned forward.
“Sean Connery,”
he said, his voice trembling.
“What?”
“Sean Connery, but shh…”
The ladies looked like they were about to faint.
“Who else apart from Werder Bremen?” My father still couldn’t care less about the celebrities.
Kalli pitched in. “Isn’t that enough?”
Heinz threw him an irritated look and then stared at Gisbert, who was fidgeting around on his seat. “Oh, but it’s not all about sports. I write about crime too, for example.”
“About what?” The change of subject was a little abrupt, even for my father.
“You know, crime, murder and manslaughter, fraud, smuggling, con men. All that needs to be reported on too.”
“Sean Bond, erm, Sean Connery? Where does he stay here?” Hannelore’s neck was getting red.
Gisbert looked at her sternly. “Shh.”
“Ha, as if there were any murderers here.” Onno picked up his beer glass. “Kalli, do you know any?”
Kalli shook his head. “Not a single one. This isn’t exactly a dangerous place. If you’re lucky you might have a handbag snatched or something pinched from a shop now and then. Other than that not much happens.”
Gisbert had his trump card ready. He was waving his hands around excitedly.
“That’s what you think. Do you know where I was today?”
Collective shoulder-shrugging ensued.
“In Emden. At a police press conference.”
Kalli wasn’t convinced. “So? That’s in Emden; it has nothing to do with us.”
“Yes it does.” Gisbert’s answer came like a gunshot. “All I’m saying is that there’s an escaped marriage con man on the loose, and they think he’s on the island.” He looked around triumphantly, but his dramatic punch line was interrupted by Gesa’s arrival.
“Evening everyone, sorry I’m late. I was with my sister and her poor foot. Did I miss something? You all look a bit strange.”
Onno laid his hand on her shoulder. “Did you meet a marriage con man en route by any chance?”
“How would I know what one looks like?” asked Gesa, confused.
I explained to her. “He promises marriage in order to get money, then runs away.”
“Nah.” Gesa pulled down the zipper of her jacket. “No one wanted to marry me today. Unless…Heinz, what do you say?”
Gisbert banged his hand on the table. “You’re not taking it seriously. The press conference lasted over two hours. The police wouldn’t do that if the guy wasn’t a serious threat.”
Kalli leaned back, relaxed. “Oh, I don’t feel threatened by marriage con men. What could they possibly want from me?”
Mechthild, on the other hand, looked concerned. “Can you give us a few details, or are you not allowed to?”
“Allowed to?” Gisbert was now in full Robin Hood mode. “I have to. It’s my duty to put a stop to this criminal. I have to warn the potential victims, enlighten them, protect them, even.”
Marleen and I gave in to a fit of giggles. Gisbert jumped up, outraged, and pointed at me. “You’re laughing, Christine,” he all but screamed, “but you could be his next victim.”
I wasn’t capable of answering. Gesa looked unconcerned. She lit a cigarette. “I doubt that,” she said. “They always seek out old, worn-out, lonely women. Christine is too young and doesn’t have enough dough. And she has her dad around her neck too.” Glancing up at Frau Weidemann-Zapek and Frau Klüppersberg, she smiled, embarrassed. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.”
The ladies’ expressions froze.
Gisbert “knight in shining armor” von Meyer filled us in on the details. “The subject’s approach is always the same. He checks into a hotel and flirts with one of the employees. He pretends to have fallen for her, and she tells him details about the other guests, without seeing through his perfidious little game. While she’s working, he builds up contact with his victims, usually older women traveling alone. He knows who to target from his conversation with the employee. And then he tells the victim that his money was stolen, and they help him out. It’s a genius plan. The police know of four victims, one in Leer, one in Aurich, and two in Emden. After that, all trace of him disappears. They think he’s still on the islands. Either here or Juist or Borkum.”
I could feel Marleen looking at me. She watched too many crime shows—that’s why she was always so suspicious. Before she could ask, I did. “And what does he look like?”
Gisbert was spurred on by my interest. He pulled a notepad out of his man bag and flicked through it.
“Yes, there’s a very precise description. He’s in his mid-forties, about five feet eleven inches, normal build, brown eyes, full hair. And he’s very charming.”
“Millions of men look like that,” I said, partly to calm myself down, and avoided meeting Marleen’s gaze.
She probed further. “And how did he blow his cover?”
Gisbert flicked a little farther through his notepad. “He was in a hotel in Emden a week ago, and he seduced some beautician working there. She got suspicious when she saw him having coffee with older women in the town on two separate occasions. He’d told her it was his first time in Emden and that he didn’t know anyone. So, even though she was already smitten, she challenged him. He denied it all and then, out of the blue, said he had to take off because of business meetings. Of course, he didn’t come back. The beautician spoke to the ladies, and then they reported him to the police.”
I suddenly felt very warm. The air was close and sticky, and I really needed a smoke.
Onno had been listening attentively. “What kind of money can you make doing something like that?”
Gisbert had notes on that too. “The ladies who made the report had been conned out of five thousand euros between them. But the police think they’re not the only ones; it’s just that most people are too embarrassed to come forward.”
Onno shook his head in disbelief. “And I get twenty euros an hour for doing electrics. Heinz, do you reckon we could have a go at this con man lark?”
Gisbert gave him a reprimanding look. “And the other thing is that he never pays his hotel bill.”
I gave a sigh of relief. Johann had paid. Even if it was with my money.
Marleen stood up suddenly. “Then at least we know the score. Look, I have to go now. I need to do my bookkeeping. Thanks for the beer, Kalli. See you all tomorrow, good night.”
Before she left, she placed her hand on my shoulder for a moment.
My father watched her go until the door closed behind her. Then he turned back to us. His voice sounded agitated. “I didn’t want to say anything while Marleen was still here. She always makes such a fuss about her guests. But I had a funny feeling about that man as soon as I saw him, Kalli. What was he called, the one with the deceitful eyes?”
Kalli had no idea, but Weidemann-Zapek and Klüppersberg answered in chorus: “Thiess.”
I could feel my face getting hotter and hotter. My father banged his hand on the table.
“Exactly. Thiess. There was something strange about him. And he was getting cozy with Christine right from the start. It’s so obvious.”
“What?” Gisbert jumped up again and stared at me.
“Oh, nonsense, he didn’t get cozy with me. We just had a chat out in the courtyard one day.” But my voice was so thin that even I wouldn’t have been convinced by my protests.
Hannelore Klüppersberg was getting agitated now too. “He did invite us to coffee, you know. We ran into him on the promenade, and he invited us right away.”
“Hannelore, I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to worry you, but I had the feeling he was watching us,” Mechthild added.
“No.” Hannelore flung her hand in front of her mouth with horror. “Mechthild.”
My father looked like a private investigator who’d just stumbled on some key evidence. “There you go! This proves it.”
Gesa propped her chin on her hands. “Did you lend him any money, though?
”
Everyone waited in suspense for her answer. Hannelore shook her head. “No, he didn’t ask.”
Gisbert seemed disappointed. “Mechthild, how about you?”
“No. Fortunately.”
Gesa took some peanuts from a bowl and put them in her mouth. “Wow, that’s some evidence you’ve got there then.”
“Gesa,” said my father in a lecturing tone, “he builds up contact first. A criminal like that doesn’t just rush straight in. He has to soften up the victims first, build their trust. Then he fleeces them. It’s simple.”
“You seem to know a lot about it.” Onno put his head to one side. “How do you know all that? Or was it you? Where were you last week?”
Mechthild giggled. “Oh, Heinz, I’d lend you money in a shot.”
“Tell me, Heinz,” Onno said, enjoying his joke, “how much do you make to supplement your pension by doing this?”
My father waved his hand impatiently. “You’re being silly now. Stick to the topic at hand.”
Onno grinned wryly. “I am.” It seemed he was already a little tipsy.
Gisbert started drumming his fingers on the table. “Heinz, if you have evidence, we should pursue it. Were you able to watch him? Think back please, even the smallest detail could be vital.”
My father, immediately feeling very important, scrunched up his eyes and looked lost in thought. Gesa tried to save the situation. “You’re barking up the wrong tree. There’s no way Thiess is a con man. And besides, he checked out this morning and paid for everything. In cash.”
“That doesn’t mean anything. Maybe he noticed I was getting suspicious of him.” My father wasn’t giving up.
Gesa looked at him patiently. “You’ll have to find yourselves another suspect. He only left because he has an important appointment, and he’s coming back tomorrow or the day after. So you can ask him yourself whether he’s a criminal when he gets back.”
“Important appointment…” Gisbert was making notes. “That’s what he said in Emden too. And maybe he’s coming back to strike. It seems he hasn’t hit his next victim for the money yet.”
I was trying so hard to keep a neutral expression on my face that I was getting a headache. Gisbert was watching me.