by Dora Heldt
“Because the ladies are always late. That’s their nature.”
“Dad! Don’t fill the children’s heads with that nonsense!”
“Why is that nonsense? It’s based on pure fact.”
“Well, it’s not true in your case. Mom always has to wait for you because you dawdle so much. And she’s always on time.”
My father leaned over to the children. “I’ve put sketchpads and pencils on the windowsill for you. Why don’t you draw some nice pictures for the opening?”
The twins rushed off. I tightened a table leg. “You coward,” I said, “you won’t even admit it.”
“Your mother always arrives too early, but that doesn’t mean she’s punctual. Are you feeling better now?”
“I was just in a bit of a bad mood, that’s all. Don’t worry.” I carried on tightening, obstinately, and changed the subject. “What did you do to Hubert, by the way? He seemed really confused just now.”
My father looked thoughtfully at Hubert, who was hauling tables with Kalli at the other end of the room. “I don’t know. I went away for a moment and left him with the children, and when I came back he was acting all strange.”
“What do you mean? Where did you go?”
He smiled contentedly. “I bought Marleen a wonderful present for the opening. She’ll be over the moon.”
That sounded ominous. “What did you get her?”
“A fishing net. A used one.”
The screwdriver fell from my hand. “Dad, she didn’t want—”
“Shh, she’s coming.”
Marleen looked like she’d seen a ghost too. She came up to me, followed closely by Onno, who was almost treading on her heels. Before she could say anything, my father asked, “So? What did the police want?”
It took her a second to realize he was talking to her. “Nothing in particular, they just wanted to ask me something.”
“And give you…ouch!”
Onno pulled his leg back, his face full of pain. Marleen laid her hand on his arm. “Did I kick you? I’m sorry.”
She smiled at him apologetically, but I was sure she’d done it on purpose. Then she whispered to me, “I have to tell you something right away. As soon as we’re alone.”
A noise we all recognized interrupted the various activities. Gisbert came tearing back into the yard on his scratched moped. The accident clearly hadn’t made him ride more cautiously. Dorothea looked out the window.
“God, give me strength. And now there’s a taxi pulling in too. Is that for us, as well?”
It was. It stopped in the driveway, and Hannelore Klüppersberg and Mechthild Weidemann-Zapek climbed out. Both were wearing jeans and olive green shirts.
“The only thing missing is a camouflage net.”
“Dorothea, come away from the window, will you?”
My father looked at her impatiently and went out to meet the trio. At the same time, Carsten rode into the courtyard and, under the watchful eyes of the camouflaged ladies, climbed elegantly down from his bike. Dorothea’s Gucci sunglasses made him look a little odd. He gave Dorothea, who was still standing spellbound at the window, a mischievous wave. She groaned.
“Nils, if you even start to resemble him, it’s over with us.”
“Hey, I take after my mother. Everyone says that.” Unmoved, Nils shoved the next table into position. “Don’t get worked up.”
The troop came into the restaurant; the ladies first, then Gisbert and my father, and finally Carsten. We looked at them in anticipation. Only Nils carried on working.
“Nils!” Only a father had a tone like that. “Don’t make such a racket. We have to tell you all something.”
“And we have to finish.”
I admired Nils for his courage. He really was brave, and against his own father.
“Nils!”
He put the table down and sat on it. “Okay, fine. What is it?”
It seemed difficult fathers were the same the world over. Carsten took the sunglasses off and folded them up.
“We just wanted to tell you the stakeout is over. And, correct me if I’m wrong, ladies, but we were thoroughly successful.”
“Yes.” Mechthild Weidemann-Zapek puffed out her chest. “You could put it like that.”
“Did he make an advance?” My father looked concerned.
She nodded triumphantly. “As good as.”
I wasn’t exactly on top form, but I knew an undertone when I heard one.
“What does ‘as good as’ mean?”
Hannelore Klüppersberg didn’t go into it. “We were in the Georg Hotel the whole afternoon. First we strolled around, then we settled down at a table next to Herr Thiess and had a coffee.”
“I sat at the next table,” interjected Carsten.
“With my sunglasses on?” asked Dorothea. “Just staring at them?”
“Dorothea, let them explain.” My father was getting impatient.
“He was pretending to look in the other direction. There was a method to it,” Mechthild explained.
I couldn’t stop myself from asking. “Was he alone?”
Gisbert smoothed his hair before he answered. “Of course. He realized we had him surrounded, so of course he wasn’t taking any risks.”
“So he didn’t make a move on the ladies at all, and you haven’t managed to catch him in the act at all?”
“Oh, Christine.” Gisbert’s voice took on a fatherly tone. “It’s so obvious. Wake up, will you? You were wrong about him. He’s a criminal.”
“That’s enough!” Marleen slammed her hand down on a nearby table.
“You can say that again.” I’d had enough of it too, once and for all. I went over to the door. “I’m going for a cigarette.”
“Christine?”
“What?” I turned around to my father.
“Nothing. I mean…if you need a light…I have some matches, that’s all.”
He threw them to me. It seemed I was growing up after all.
Two cigarettes later, the mood in the restaurant had calmed down again. Kalli and Hubert were wiping down the tables, Marleen and Dorothea were putting the last of the glasses in the cabinets, and Onno and my father were watching the twins drawing. The detective quartet of Carsten, Gisbert, and the ladies was nowhere to be seen.
“So?” I pulled up a chair. “Are the decoy birds being deployed again?”
My father pointed to the girls, who were leaning over their pictures with concentration.
“Not in front of the children. They’ll have bad dreams.”
Emily looked up. “They’re called gulls, not decoys. And I don’t need to go to bed yet, it’s still really light outside.”
“That’s right.” My father tapped the picture. “The beak needs to be longer. You know, Christine doesn’t know as much about gulls as we do.”
“You’ll have to ask Hubert, then,” explained Lena, pointing at him. “Hubert is just like the Seagull King, because he knows all of them, the common black-headed gulls, the mew gulls, the herring gulls, and…”
She knitted her brow with sheer concentration. Luckily, her sister came to her aid.
“The lesser black-headed gulls. And you aren’t always allowed to collect the eggs, and the dads of the gull eggs attack the egg collectors. Never the mothers, though.”
“Exactly, Emily.” My father nodded proudly. “That’s like humans—the dads protect their children too. The mothers just do the breeding.”
“Aha.” I pretended to look impressed. “If the dads don’t get there too late, that is.”
“Right.” Lena completed the gull beak on the drawing in front of her. “Christine?”
“Yes?”
“Hubert is just like Lille Peer. Exactly like him. But that’s a secret.” She bit her lower lip and looked at me seriously. I held her gaze.
“Yes, he knows the gulls well. I already know that.”
“No, but I mean…”
“There’s Mom.” Emily pushed back her chair and ran t
oward Anna Berg. “Mom, we were on the beach with the Seagull King, and we—”
“Just a minute, Emily, let me get in first.” She lifted her daughter up and came over to us. “Hello, you must nearly be finished. It looks great.”
“Well.” My father stood up and looked around. “A few too many tables perhaps.”
“Hopefully they’ll always be full. Was everything okay with the children?”
“Of course. They’re a pleasure to be around. They looked after Hubert and I very well, didn’t you, girls? How was the sailing?”
“It was great. And thank you so much again. My husband and I really owe you one. You really are priceless as a babysitter.”
My father winked, flattered. “Oh, don’t mention it, it’s fine. And there’s no need to return the favor. After all, I can leave my daughter alone.”
“We’ll think of something. Come on you two, pack your things up and say thank you. So, good luck with the rest of the work, see you soon.”
Once the last piece of furniture was in the right position, the last inch wiped down and everything looked just as Nils’s plan had intended, I remembered that Marleen had wanted to tell me something. I went over to the guesthouse, where she was on the phone to the flower delivery company.
“Okay, great, if you come around half past six we’ll still have enough time to decorate everything. See you tomorrow, thank you.” She hung up and took a deep breath. “So, everything is sorted out. Gesa just went over to the caterers to give them the final lists, and then everything will be finished.”
“You wanted to tell me something?”
Marleen looked around to make sure no one was listening. “That’s right. I just didn’t want Heinz or Gisbert to hear, otherwise all hell would break loose.”
“Why, what happened?”
“Gerd was here earlier, the policeman.”
“Onno’s brother, right?”
“Yes, and he gave me this.” She reached behind the bar and pulled out a black wallet, which she held out to me. “Some guests found it on the beach and handed it in.”
I opened it and the first thing I saw was a business card: “Your home in Nordeney, Haus Theda.”
“And?”
“Look at the rest.”
Behind it was an ID card. I pulled it out and found myself staring at a photo of Johann. A lovely one, in fact. Except that a different name was written below the photo: Johannes Sander.
“Born in Cologne, six feet tall, brown eyes.” I read it out, half under my breath. “This can’t be Sander? Why is he calling himself Thiess?”
Marleen looked over my shoulder. “Read on, there’s the address and it’s correct—Bremen.”
“But the name is wrong. What does this mean? Didn’t he show you his ID when he checked in?”
“Oh, it was all so hectic that morning. I don’t look at every guest’s ID; you don’t have to anymore. And look, his telephone number was here too, so I left a message saying his papers had been handed in to me. The credit cards are still there too, so the people who found it must have been decent and honest. Anyway, I told him to come by tomorrow before the opening and pick it up, and I didn’t even mention the name thing.”
“I’ve got his cell number, too.”
“Well, then give him a call. Or suggest you meet up; then you can give it to him.”
I only hesitated for a second before dialing his number. My heart felt like it was beating four times to every ring. “Hello. This is the mailbox of T-Mobile 0171…”
I hung up. Maybe later, then, but I’d made my decision. I was going to speak to Johannes Sander again, no matter what it took.
Marleen had suggested we all meet at eight in the restaurant.
“I’ll treat everyone to a celebratory beer. And Hubert’s grilling sausages.”
By now I had pressed redial on my phone about ten times, so often that I could repeat the mailbox text by heart. Johann/Johannes hadn’t called back, so I was back in the same position as before.
My father, clad in his colorful Nordeney shirt, Dorothea, and I walked over to the restaurant together. As we stood in the entrance, Dorothea said what I was thinking:
“It’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen.”
At the front was the lounge, the white chairs set out around the open fire, with candle stands and small tables between them. Toward the back was the restaurant.
“It looks lovely.” My father looked around contentedly. “Even an interior designer couldn’t have done a better job.”
“We had an interior designer.”
“Oh, you know, but it was only Nils. The good ideas were ours. Kalli, there you are. We did a great job, didn’t we?”
The two of them walked over to the biggest table at the back, which Marleen and Gesa were just setting, and sat down next to each other.
“What’s up? Can’t we go in yet?” asked Carsten behind us.
“Sure.” I stepped aside. “We’re just admiring how lovely everything is.”
“Indeed.” Carsten slapped Nils on the back. “After all, I paid enough for his studies, so it should be good.”
We slowly made our way past the efforts of the last few days. It had been worth it. Hubert came through the side entrance with a dish, wearing an apron.
“Okay, the first of the sausages are ready. Are we all here?”
“We are now.” Onno overtook us on the right, sat down next to Kalli, and held out his plate toward Hubert. “You can give me one right away.”
“You are the greediest electrician I’ve ever met.” My father pushed the bowl of salad toward him. “What are you going to do when you can’t eat here every day?”
Onno was already chewing. “New building site. It’ll be fine.”
The next half hour was peaceful. Everyone ate, hardly anyone spoke, and the radio that had tormented us with Schlager over the last few days was finally silent, now back in Marleen’s cellar. Instead, soft piano notes came from the new stereo.
“So,” said my father, taking his glasses off, a sign that he’d had enough to eat, “will this tinkling be on tomorrow at the opening, or are you having a live band?”
The tinkling was drowned out by a familiar moped rattle.
“Oh no, what does he want? Is he trying to wind me up?”
“Dorothea!” My father screwed the lid back on the tube of mustard, only for Onno to take it right back off again. “Gisbert is the media. You can’t open a bar without nurturing media contacts.”
He turned to the door, where Gisbert was standing, swinging his helmet.
“Come in, my boy, come on in, don’t be shy. You know everyone.”
“Unfortunately.” Onno took his fifth sausage.
“Good evening to you.” Gisbert did an awkward bow before sitting down next to my father. “Marleen, congratulations. The flowers will be here tomorrow. A present from the newspaper.”
Dorothea bent under the table to look for her napkin.
Gisbert took a notepad from his bag and put a sharpened pencil next to it.
“Shall we do a few interviews right away, or would you prefer to do it tomorrow when the important people are here and the party’s in full swing? The mayor is coming too, by the way. That’s what he promised me anyway, although of course I’ll have to ask him a few uncomfortable questions first.”
Dorothea groaned as she straightened back up. Onno looked first at her, then at Gisbert.
“We’re actually having the evening off. And we wanted some peace and quiet.”
“Then perhaps not.” The notepad and pencil made their way back into Gisbert’s bag. “That’s fine with me. I’ve already got the article written in my head anyway. You know, I’ll just unite the two big current Nordeney stories: the con man and the opening of this new venue.”
“Gisbert! Please.” Marleen was annoyed already. “Give it a rest. We don’t want to hear it anymore.”
“You can’t always just turn a blind eye, you know. We have proof, and tomorro
w I’m giving all the material over to the police. They’ll bow down before us.”
“My brother is the police.” Onno’s eyes had narrowed. “And he certainly won’t be bowing.”
“What would you know? You have no idea about the explosive force of my evidence.”
“Evidence. It’s laughable. The pictures from your funny little phone have been deleted.”
Kalli and Heinz pitched in: “Onno! Gisbert!”
The two adversaries ignored the interjection. Gisbert was getting red flecks on his neck.
“The address is false, he lied and deceived, he stared blatantly at our decoy ladies. Oh, why am I bothering to tell you? There’s no point. You’re just an electrician.”
“And what about his name?”
“What about it? He’s called Johann Thiess.”
“Wrong,” said Onno triumphantly. “Totally wrong. My brother and I took possession of his papers. He has a completely different name.”
Hubert let his fork sink. “What do you mean, different? What’s his real name?”
Onno wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I forgot, something with M or P or something, but not Thiess in any case. I saw the papers though, and so did Marleen. So there you go, you hack.”
All eyes turned to Marleen. “Are we all done with the food?” she asked, unmoved. “If so, I’ll clean up.”
My father held her arm. “Not yet. What’s his name? Tell us. And how come you’ve seen his papers? Why didn’t you tell us?”
Marleen freed herself from his grip and started to stack the plates.
“I forgot the name, it was something complicated. And besides, we weren’t going to mention this topic until after the opening. And that’s not until tomorrow.”
“Was it Russian? Or Chinese?”
“What?”
“The name, of course.” My father was kneading his fingers. “Think!”
Marleen leaned over the table so that her face was right next to my father’s. She spoke very clearly and slowly.
“Heinz, my dear, don’t wind me up now. The opening is tomorrow, so we’ll see after that. Do you understand?”
He pulled his head back. “Of course! No problem. Then tomorrow it is. So, boys, what do you say to a round of cards?”