by Dora Heldt
I had a bad feeling about this. We both stood up to go and see what was going wrong. At that moment, Anna Berg came into the garden with the twins.
“Hello. Shall I bring the girls over, or are you taking them with you?”
“Why, where are they supposed to be going?” asked Marleen, clueless.
Now Anna Berg was confused. “Heinz said they could help out. My husband and I have been invited to go sailing again.”
It would be nice if my father would discuss things with us now and again. But the fact he seemed to lack that talent couldn’t be taken out on the children. I took a deep breath.
“Of course they can help; I’ll take them over with me now. Have fun sailing.”
Herr Keller was gasping for air. “Oh great, now they’re helping. Frau de Vries, if this is—”
“Come on, we’ll see what’s happening.”
Marleen grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the restaurant. I followed her slowly, Emily and Lena in tow.
The scene awaiting us reminded me of some hidden camera TV show: There were about ten tables lined up against the wall on the left-hand side, all of which had chairs stacked on them. To the right and left of the bar were more chairs, and the space in between was stuffed with plastic wrapping. In the middle of the room stood my father. All the rest of the tables and chairs were arranged in a U formation, and on one side there was an orderly row of chairs. My father looked like a teacher in an empty classroom.
Onno was the first to notice us standing there and turned the radio off. Marleen stared at my father and the table formation. Heinz turned around to her and beamed.
“You’re back. Did the meeting at the bank go well? Look, all the tables and chairs against the walls are left over. The boys can take them back with them. Then we’ll save lots of money. That’s great, isn’t it?”
“Where is Nils’s plan?” Marleen’s voice sounded strained.
“Oh, that.” Carsten waved a piece of paper that he picked up from the bar. “It’s not really a proper plan. My son just sketched a normal bar. It was boring. We want something out of the ordinary, don’t we?”
Marleen was silent. My father shoved his hands into his jeans pockets and bobbed contentedly up and down on the tips of his toes.
“I think this U formation is great. The guests can look at each other, and the waiters won’t have such a long way to go. I’m surprised Nils didn’t come up with this himself. I thought he studied interior design? Never mind though, it pays to have experienced staff. Oh, hello, my favorite girls are here too.” He walked over to the twins, who were smiling at him broadly. “You can give us a hand with putting the tablecloths on.”
Marleen was still silent. Hubert went over to her.
“Marleen, I guess you’re a bit speechless, right? The boys and I really make a good team.”
“Tell me, Hubert,” Marleen said as she turned slowly around to face her aunt’s sweetheart. “What would you say to you and Heinz taking the twins to the west beach and showing them the seagulls?”
“The seagulls?” asked Hubert, confused. “But we’re not finished here yet.”
I crouched down next to the twins and whispered, “He knows all the seagulls. And he knows where they’re nesting.”
Lena flung her hand in front of her mouth.
“Is he the Seagull King?” she whispered with awe.
I nodded and put my finger to my lips. “But, shh, it’s a secret.”
Excited, Emily pulled on my father’s hand. “Heinz, we want to go with you and the man to the seagulls.”
My father looked at them both with surprise. “But you wanted to help out a minute ago.”
“No, please, the seagulls first. Please!”
With that tone of voice and those eyes she could have won over any man. My father looked at Hubert.
“Hubert, we’ve done everything here, really. The others can do the finishing touches. The young ladies should have their heart’s desire.”
Once Lena shoved her little hand into Hubert’s, it was a done deal.
“Good.” Marleen’s voice sounded back to normal again. “Then you all go off to see the seagulls, and we’ll…oh, Nils, there you are.” She glanced at him quickly. “Don’t worry, we’re sorting this out in a second, as soon as Heinz and Hubert are gone.”
Carsten swept his hand over a table. “I think I’ll come too. Unless you need me here still? Nils?”
Nils was pale and looked lost for words. Marleen answered instead.
“No, Carsten, it’s fine, you go with them. And Kalli, you too. I still need you though, Onno.”
As soon as the four of them had left the room with the children, Marleen sank down next to Nils on a bench.
“Christine, if Heinz wasn’t your father and Hubert wasn’t Theda’s partner I would have just murdered them both. U formation! Now they really are cracking up. So much for helping out. Now we have to start from the beginning again.”
Herr Keller butted in. “The one with the cap was the worst.”
I piped up. “And you’re a snitch.” At the end of the day, the man he was referring to was still my father. “We’ll pack the plastic wrapping together first so you can take it with you. Come on, let’s get going.”
Half an hour later, we’d used our combined efforts to get all the packing material back into the furniture van. Herr Keller, still sulking, got Marleen to pay for the delivery, pocketed his tip, and then drove back to the harbor with his colleagues.
Nils watched them go. “We should get the men to refund us the money. Them and their U formation.” He shook his head. “What a load of bull.”
Onno cleared his throat. “A bit more respect, please. I still think it was a good idea.”
Marleen took a deep breath. “Nils, where is your plan?… Thank you. So, Christine and Gesa, you take the row of tables on the left-hand side, Nils and Dorothea the right, and Onno and I will start at the back. Let’s get going.”
As I lifted the first table with Gesa, I realized I hadn’t thought about Johann for the last hour. Somehow, that gave me courage.
We had set up almost half of the restaurant according to Nils’s plan when Onno sank down onto a chair and crossed his hands in front of his chest.
“I can’t do any more. I’m hungry. It’s already past twelve, and we didn’t even have breakfast. If there isn’t any lunch either, I’m going home.”
It didn’t sound as though he was open to discussion. Marleen looked at the clock.
“Okay, we’ll have a break now, then. I’ve made lentil soup, and it’ll only take ten minutes to heat up. Gesa, can you come over with me to set the table?”
Onno followed them. He didn’t want to take any chances. At the door, he turned around.
“I’m starting, regardless of when you come over.”
Nils, Dorothea, and I pushed another three tables into the right place, and then Nils stretched and looked around.
“It’s coming together. I’m hungry too. Are you coming?”
“In a minute.” I sank down onto a chair in front of the fireplace. “I just need five minutes of peace first.”
“That’s a good idea.” Dorothea sank down on the sofa opposite. “We’ll be there soon.”
“Okay, I’ll cross my fingers that Onno leaves some for you then. See you soon.”
I leaned back for a moment and shut my eyes. Before I opened them again, I heard a bike outside, then the voice that accompanied it.
“Where is everyone?”
“Kalli must have a built-in detector that alerts him whenever there’s food available. Unbelievable.”
Dorothea got up and went over to meet him. Kalli was already at the door.
“Hello, is it just the two of you?”
“The others are over there in the kitchen. We’re having soup in a minute.”
Kalli smiled, pleased.
“I thought you went with my father and Hubert to the seagulls?”
I struggled out of the chair. Ev
ery single muscle I had hurt from heaving the furniture around. Kalli went red and scratched his arm, embarrassed.
“Something came up…I mean, Carsten and I…Heinz and Hubert went on to see the seagulls with the children.”
“What came up? And where’s Carsten?”
“Erm, yes, well, Gisbert…he wanted us to help with a stakeout, but Heinz said that it wasn’t right to do that with the children there, so I started and then Carsten took over from me. I was so hungry.”
Dorothea laughed. “So Carsten is spying right now? Then it must have been him who stole my sunglasses. They were on the windowsill and then suddenly disappeared. Where’s he creeping around then?”
Kalli shrugged. “No idea. During my shift Thiess was just sitting in a beach chair reading. It was pretty boring, to be honest.”
“Was he alone?” I had to ask.
“Carsten?”
“No, Johann Thiess.”
“Yes, that’s why it was so boring. Maybe Carsten will have more luck. I need something to eat right away.” And with those words, he disappeared through the door. Dorothea and I watched him walk quickly over to the guesthouse. She took a deep breath.
“I’m starting to find all their investigations a bit alarming. It’s all a bit messed up. Poor Johann. Wherever he goes he always has some old man with sunglasses on his heels.” She couldn’t help but laugh. “Just imagine it. If I were him, I would have snapped long ago.”
I was just about to answer when my gaze fell on a woman standing on tiptoes in front of the guesthouse, peering into one of the windows. She looked familiar for some reason. I prodded Dorothea.
“What’s she doing?”
Dorothea leaned over to look. “No idea. She’s looking for something.”
Now I recognized her. It was the woman from Gisbert’s photos. The rich old lady from the Georg Hotel. “That’s her,” I said. “The supposed victim.”
Dorothea was already on her way. “I’ll go and ask her what her connection to Thiess is.”
She ran over the courtyard and called, “Excuse me, hi there, wait a moment!”
The woman gave a start and looked over in our direction. When she saw Dorothea approaching, she turned on her heel. Dorothea followed her to the gate, turning around to look at me for a second, not noticing that Gisbert had just shot around the corner on his moped.
He drove right into Dorothea. The crash shocked me out of my temporary paralysis. Within a fraction of a second I’d run over. Dorothea was on the ground clasping her knee. Furious, she stared at Gisbert, who was crawling out from under the moped and groaning as he took his helmet off.
“You idiot! Ow! How can you be so stupid? And now she’s gone. I’m reporting you, you idiot, you’re going to jail for bodily harm. Damn it, Christine, my knee hurts so much!”
Gisbert sat down next to her and carefully stroked her grazed knee. She smacked his hand.
“Don’t touch me, you dumbass. First you nearly kill me, and then you start touching me.”
I stroked her calmingly on the back. “Can you stand up?”
“Of course I can… Ow!”
I pulled her up, and she tried to take a step. She managed, but was limping a bit. Gisbert was still sitting on the ground. I felt a bit sorry for him.
“Have you hurt yourself?”
He shook his head bravely and got up with a light groan.
“I’m okay. A real man doesn’t feel pain.”
I had a feeling he would say something like that.
He looked at his moped. “But I fear there might be some technical issues.”
Dorothea’s eyes flashed. “Well, real man or not, if some idiot hadn’t given you a driver’s license this accident would never have happened. People like you should never be allowed to drive. What are you doing here anyway? Spying again?”
He brushed the dust off his trousers. “Actually, I was working on resolving our case. I was following the victim, to protect her. But you’ve ruined that now, so thanks a lot.”
“What’s going on here?” called Marleen, who had come out with Onno and Kalli following close behind. “Is someone hurt?”
Dorothea shook her head. “Nothing serious. Meyer has a little bit of brain damage, but I’m sure no one will notice. Do you have a wrap for my knee?”
While Marleen took care of Dorothea, Kalli and Onno checked out the damage to Gisbert’s moped. Kalli wobbled the handlebar.
“It’s a Hercules, it can take it. And you’ll be able to fix the scratches with some touch-up paint.”
Gisbert stroked the bar. “It’s so annoying.”
“Why were you going at such a speed?” I could hear the smugness in Onno’s voice. It seemed he wasn’t too keen on Gisbert either. “My little brother had a Hercules when he was sixteen. I had a proper motorbike though, a Suzuki. Oh well.”
I poked him in the side. “Onno! Come on, I thought you wanted to eat. And the old lady is gone now anyway.”
“I know.” Gisbert was unhappy. “All that for nothing.”
Nils and Marleen came back with the patched-up Dorothea. She shot another poisonous look at Gisbert. “I’m going to eat now,” she said.
Demonstratively, she limped off ahead. Gisbert stood around expectantly. “Come on,” Marleen finally said. “You can join us. You’ve had a bit of a shock too.”
Putting on a tragic expression, he obeyed, dragging himself along behind us with what seemed to be the last of his strength.
After a brief lunch, we went back to the restaurant. Nils and Onno started by lifting the first table from the pile, and Gesa and I the next. Only Kalli stood there indecisively. “It’s silly to try to do one by myself. I don’t want to scratch the expensive tables.”
He waited for Marleen. She was sorting water bottles into boxes and only raised her head briefly.
“I’ll be there in a moment. Gisbert, couldn’t you help a bit?”
He looked at her in horror. “But I just had an accident.”
Dorothea almost dropped everything she was holding. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Von Meyer, if you say one more…”
“Herr von Meyer, if you please.” Gisbert got up slowly. “And besides, I don’t have time. I still have things to do. Kalli? Don’t forget you need to take over the next shift of the stakeout. Although, it’s Heinz’s turn, really, I think. And Hubert hasn’t done any at all yet. Where are they, anyway?”
Kalli glanced nervously at Marleen, who was already giving him a threatening look.
Maybe it was down to Dorothea’s injury or her rage at the negligent moped driver, but either way, she planted herself in front of Gisbert with an enraged expression.
“So, my good man, listen up. Neither Kalli nor Heinz, Hubert nor Carsten are going to continue with this idiotic cops and robbers game. Either you apologize to Herr Thiess, who’s been followed for days by mentally disturbed, sunglasses-wearing retirees and wannabe reporters, or you go to the police. But until the opening tomorrow no one here wants to even hear the words con man, okay? Has that gone into your bruised little brain?”
Gisbert gasped for air. “What’s gotten into you? Marleen! Say something, will you? This is about the reputation of your guesthouse.”
“Dorothea’s right. We have to carry on no matter what. Otherwise we’ll never be ready. There are about a hundred and twenty guests coming to the opening, and I need everyone’s help. For all I care you can spy on whoever and whatever you want. But not here, and—”
She didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence. The door was flung open and Hubert, my father, and the twins came in.
“Hello, we’re back.” My father ducked so Emily, who was seated on his shoulders, wouldn’t bang her head.
“Gisbert, old boy, you’ve got a hell of a scratch on your machine out there. Did you miss the turn?”
Onno chuckled. “Well, he certainly didn’t miss Dorothea, that’s for sure.”
Hubert, holding Lena by the hand, stood next to him. “Did some
thing happen?”
Marleen could see the time dwindling away. “No, everything’s fine. Gisbert was just about to leave, and we still have a lot to do, so can we get on with it?” She looked around her with a warning look.
“Oh, by the way, Marleen.” My father lifted Emily carefully down from his shoulders. “There’s a police car in front of the guesthouse. I asked the officer who he was looking for. I thought it might be, you know…but he just wanted to see you and hand something over.”
“Okay, fine.” Marleen went to the door. “But please keep working, I’m getting nervous here.”
“Marleen, wait up.” Onno dropped his tool.
She stopped. “Why?”
“I’ll come with you. Gerd’s on duty; I just want to say good morning to him.”
Once they’d gone, Dorothea asked, “Gerd?”
Nils reached for the next table. “Gerd is Onno’s brother. He’s in the island police force.”
Hubert stared through the window, lost in thought. I gave him a nudge.
“Everything okay?”
“What?” He gave a start. “Sorry, I was daydreaming.”
Either the seagulls, the children, or my father had done him in. Perhaps it had been a combination. In any case, the poor man looked like he’d just seen a ghost.
“Okay.” I tried to sound cheerful. “If you’re in the mood, you could help Kalli carry tables.”
“Done.” He set off at once.
Meanwhile, my father made his way around the restaurant, holding one of the girls by each hand, and showing them everything.
“Look, there are lots of chairs and sofas. People can sit around on them and gaze into the fire. It’s called lounging, and it’s very modern and fashionable.” He stopped and raised his eyebrows. “And over there it just looks like any old restaurant. Rather boring. Oh well.”
Nils grimaced behind his back but carried on working.
“And this is the bar, and those stools will go in front of it. That’s very elegant, too. Gentlemen will wait here for ladies they have a date with.”
“Why will the men be waiting?” Lena stroked one of the barstools in awe.