A Glittering Chaos

by de Nikolits, Lisa

She looks off into the distance. “I ran away.”

  “Why did you run away? And who did you run away with?”

  “I ran away because Hans loved me too much. I never had any peace. And then one day, I was in the town, alone, just for an hour or so and a couple were filling up their car with petrol and they were towing a caravan. I don’t know what I was thinking, I wasn’t really thinking, but when they weren’t looking, I opened the door — it wasn’t locked — and I hid inside. And then when they stopped again, I found a place to hide so they wouldn’t find me. They didn’t find me until three days had passed and by then they didn’t know where I had got on. And I didn’t tell them. I pretended I couldn’t speak.”

  Everyone is mesmerized by the length and coherence of this tale.

  “And then there was nothing they could do except let me stay. I guess they could have dropped me off at a police station but they decided to keep me. We travelled together and stayed in places. Sometimes we stayed for months, sometimes just days.”

  “But your father was accused of murdering you. He left your mother and disappeared. Hans left your mother. You destroyed your family. Didn’t you ever think about that?”

  She shakes her head. “No. They loved me too much. I was tired of being loved so much. It was much easier to be with my new parents. They didn’t pressure me about anything and besides, they thought I couldn’t speak. My life was much more peaceful. They loved me but they never bothered me. They called me Angelika. You should all call me Angelika.”

  “But,” Jonas interjects loudly, “if you were just in town, on a whim, how come you had the photograph with you, of the family? That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “I always carried a picture of my family with me in my schoolbag. My bag had lots of my special things in it. My new parents never knew about my schoolbag. They never knew.”

  “And where are they now?” Klein asks.

  “Dead,” she says simply. “There was an accident one day. They both died in the car. The townspeople also thought I couldn’t talk. They thought I was the couple’s daughter. I went to stay at the church with the pastor and his family until I was old enough to get a job in a grocery store, stocking the shelves. Then I got my own apartment and I’ve lived in that town all these years. And then one night, fifteen months ago, as I was going home, a man forced himself on me and that’s how I got Tommy.”

  She stops. She looks tired out from the effort of all that talking and her eyes are dark in her pale face.

  “That’s quite the story,” Jonas says. “All the loose ends neatly tied up and not enough details to give us any real proof that you really are Kateri.”

  The woman stretches out her arm. “Take my blood. Or whatever you need. Prove it.”

  “That would take months,” Jonas grumbles.

  “I’ve got time,” the woman looks at him evenly. “Nothing in my life is in a hurry. It never was. I’m not like you people.”

  “And what do you propose to do while we all wait?” Jonas asks. “Get a job stacking groceries and pretending that you can’t speak? Or do you plan to steal my father’s money?”

  “Hans is a homeless drunk,” Kateri says. “He doesn’t have any money. I didn’t think any further than getting here and making things right with him.”

  “And it took you a year to get here? The story was everywhere over a year ago. What were you doing all that time?”

  “First, I was thinking what to do and then I got pregnant with Tommy. Then I saw it again, the story about Hans. And I remembered I had to come. I told you, I came as soon as I could and I don’t do things in a hurry.”

  “Tell us,” Melusine says, “prove what you say you know. How did Hans show his affection to you?”

  “We would lie in our treehouse for hours and talk, and he’d rub my feet. I got very tired of having my feet rubbed. He would also brush my hair.”

  Jonas jumps up. “The psychic!” he shouts and he points at her. “My father told the psychic all of this and either you are her or she told you all these things.”

  Kateri looks completely baffled. “What psychic? What are you talking about?”

  “Ha!” Jonas is so angry he’s nearly spitting. “You spent all of his money. And then you drove him crazy and he had nothing left to give you, so you came here to pretend to be part of the family and rip us off too. Well, it won’t work!”

  “What psychic?” Dieter asks. “What is Jonas talking about?”

  “Hans went to see a psychic in Vegas,” Melusine explains. “And she told him she could put him in touch with Kateri. Hans said that he needed to know that Kateri was okay wherever she was. And then, this woman from the Healing Lives Ministries told him that Kateri was coming closer, that she was alive and that he’d see her soon. But he went crazy first; he started dreaming that he’d killed her or he thought he remembered killing her.”

  Klein looks over at Melusine. “Melusine, I forgot to tell you, I followed up with that pamphlet you gave me ages ago for the Celestial Sound Vibrations, but the man couldn’t remember who Hans was talking to. He said he remembered your husband, that he seemed like a nice guy but very troubled but I didn’t get anything else out of him. My apologies for not having contacted you to tell you.”

  “Thank you for trying anyway.”

  “So first Hans dreamed that he killed her,” Dieter says. “And then he tried to kill her today too. Why is everybody forgetting that?”

  “What?” Klein turns to him. “What happened?”

  “Nothing,” Melusine, Jonas and Kateri all chorus.

  “We went to the park to see if he remembered her,” Melusine explains. “We all hoped that seeing her would heal him. It was stupid, I know. Anyway, he had a bad reaction.”

  “A bad reaction!” Dieter is seething. “He tried to strangle her and then he strolled off to get his share of tuna casserole.”

  “She got too close to him,” Jonas defends his father. “It was her fault. The drink has fried his brain. It’s not his fault.”

  “I see,” Klein says, and Melusine can see he is not happy with the news that Hans attacked his sister. Or the woman pretending to be his sister.

  “And what did he say? What did Hans say?” he asks.

  “He said I killed you before, I will kill you again now,” Dieter said.

  “That’s because he thought she was a dream, a demon dream,” Jonas insists. “He already can’t lie down because he dreams that she’ll come to him, reminding him of how he killed her. He has to drink through the night and sleep upright during the day. Can you imagine the hell of that? And now, she appears to him, during the day, while he’s standing. No wonder he tried to kill her. No, let me correct that, he didn’t try to kill her; he tried to kill what he thought was the dream of her.”

  Klein sighs. “One thing’s for sure, this is one gigantic extraordinary mess.”

  He turns to Kateri. “Does anybody know that you’re here?”

  She’s startled. “I don’t know anybody here.”

  “What about the people from your town?”

  “They don’t know any of this. They think I can’t speak,” she reminds him.

  “What’s the name of the town?”

  “I won’t say. It’s my home. What if I want to go back? They accept me for who I am.”

  “But the townspeople would be able to verify your story,” Klein says, but the woman simply shrugs and just then, Nika arrives back.

  Melusine unpacks the supplies and she and Nika change Tommy’s diaper, put him in clean clothes and fix him a bottle.

  “Fine.” Klein turns to Kateri. “So the only people who know you’re here are in this room. Now let’s all agree among us that we don’t want the townspeople or newspapers finding out about this, not until we figure it out ourselves. Nobody’s to say anything to anyone. Are we all agreed?”

  There is some muttering. Melusine looks around and she stands up. “Please everyone, please let’s do this. For Hans’s sake, for Jonas’s sake, fo
r mine. For this baby. I’m not asking you on behalf of this woman, because I don’t know her either. I don’t know what to believe about the story she’s told us. I don’t. But my family, Jonas and me, we’ve been through hell more than once for this. Please, I’m asking you. It will be hard to keep it a secret but you can. Please.”

  “You’ve got my word that I won’t say a thing,” Nika is the first to speak up.

  “And me too,” Felix says.

  “And me,” Martin agrees.

  They all turn to Dieter who looks uncomfortable. “Well, I guess the only people I would have wanted to tell are the police and they’re here. So I won’t say anything, you have my word too.”

  “And you?” Melusine turns to Kateri. “What about you?”

  “I don’t have anyone to tell,” she says.

  “Look,” Melusine says. “I’ve got no reason to trust you. What’s to say you won’t take it to the papers? Saying here I am, Hans’s long-lost sister. If you’re looking for a way to milk this, that would work.”

  “I’m not looking for anything,” the woman says. “I keep telling you, I came here to help my brother.”

  “You can’t go near him again,” Klein says. “Do you understand that? If you do, and he attacks you, I’ll have to arrest him and lock him up. Which I should probably do anyway but I don’t have the grounds if none of you will make a statement about what happened this evening. If you really want to help him, stay away from him. Kateri, I’m with Jonas and Melusine, your story doesn’t ring true for me. It’s too perfect, like bullet-proof glass, you can see through it but you can’t penetrate it.”

  “She’s coming to stay with me,” Melusine says and Jonas starts to object. “Just until we get this sorted out, Jonas. Look, she didn’t have baby clothes or food or anything. I need to know that Tommy’s okay.”

  “Right, the baby trick,” Jonas is scathing. “She probably knew enough about you that you wouldn’t be able to resist a baby. Papa probably told the psychic that too. And that stuff that she’s got, the souvenirs of her life, her so-called ‘proof’. I bet it’s all stuff that Papa gave the psychic.”

  Klein sighs again. “We’ve already established that we cannot find the Healing Lives Ministries; we have already tried every avenue we can to find them. Let’s deal with what we’ve got here.”

  “If you’re taking her home with you, then I’m coming too,” Felix tells Melusine. “I’m not having you alone with this stranger. And anyway, let’s not forget we’ve got a café to run. And you,” she points a finger at Kateri, “will have to find a way to keep yourself occupied during the day because you’re not swanning around Melu’s home digging through her stuff.”

  “I really don’t like any of this,” Jonas says. “She could steal everything and disappear tomorrow.”

  Kateri yawns.

  “Here’s the thing,” Klein says. “I’ve been thinking. I could arrest her. According to the laws of the Staatsanwaltschaft, the public prosecutor’s office, we can arrest a suspect if there’s a risk of flight or if there is a problem identifying a suspect, both of which are applicable here. I can hold her for a day and I will immediately apply for a warrant to detain her for long and I’m certain I’ll get it.”

  “But she hasn’t committed a crime?” Officer Richter pipes up.

  “She has insofar as she has no real proof of identity and she’s claiming to be someone who is officially dead. And if ever I’ve seen a flight risk, it’s her. We can try to keep her locked up until this whole mess is sorted out. I agree with Jonas, I don’t want her staying with Melusine. This woman could be anybody and I don’t trust her to stick around.”

  “But what about Tommy?” Melusine clutches him tighter. “You can’t lock him up with her, that would be unspeakable for him. Anyway, we don’t even know if he’s really her baby.”

  “Of course he’s mine,” Kateri looks indignant. “Whose else would he be?”

  “There are any number of answers to that question,” Klein says. “And we owe it to the child to do a maternity test. You have no papers on you, no ID. For all I know, you could have abducted this baby.”

  Kateri looks bored. “You’re all very dramatic. Sometimes life is boringly simple.”

  “Can I look after Tommy?” Melusine asks. “Please, Herr Kommissar Klein, don’t put him in prison with her, or hand him over to social welfare, I couldn’t bear that.”

  “Since you might well be his next of kin, you can look after him,” Klein says after a moment, “if Kateri agrees.”

  “This all sounds very wishy-washy to me,” Officer Richter says. “Like we’re bending the laws all kind of ways to suit us.”

  Klein turns to him.

  “Here’s what we’ve got,” he says. “A homeless woman without any papers. And while Tommy’s well-fed and looks relatively healthy, we don’t have any proof that he’s her baby. We’ve got a cockamamie story that she’s Hans’s sister but we’ve got no real proof of that either. The other concern is this: Hans could suddenly remember that his so-called sister’s in town, giving him bad dreams and interferring with his sleep and he might decide to try and find her and strangle her for real.”

  “Look what you’ve done,” Jonas says accusingly to Kateri. “Thanks a lot. You really thought this through didn’t you? And,” he turns to Klein, “even if you lock her up, what’s to say my father won’t return to my mother, and get confused and try to kill her?”

  “I hadn’t thought of that,” Klein admits. “Good point. Melusine, can you stay with someone else for a while?”

  “She can come and stay with me and Martin,” Dieter says. “No problem. We’ve got lots of rooms. And we’re heading off on a safari the day after tomorrow for a month. You’ll have all the privacy you need,” he says to Melusine.

  “Not to mention luxury,” Felix whispers to Melusine, and she smiles at Dieter who scowls at her.

  “There’ll be none of that,” he grumbles. “I still remember the party you and Martin threw. It took a week and ten thousand dollars to fix.”

  Martin and Felix share a grin.

  “You want me to go to prison while you all think about this, and Melusine will take care of my baby?” Kateri gets up and stretches. “Sure, it’d be a rest for me. I’m very tired.”

  “The Älterer Polizeikommissar told me he’ll support whatever I make, as this is a unique situation,” Klein explains to the young constable. “I’ll get Kateri to sign the paperwork so it’s legal for Melusine to look after Tommy and I’ll keep everyone in the loop with any developments.”

  He looks at Kateri. “Let’s go then,” he says and Kateri ambles toward the front door.

  “Aren’t you forgetting something?” Jonas’s voice is cold and she turns and looks at him quizzically.

  “Your baby? Aren’t you going to say goodbye to your baby?”

  Kateri strolls back and pats the sleeping Tommy on the head and looks at Jonas. “Happy now? He was asleep. He never even noticed. Let’s go already, I’m worn out.”

  Klein and Kateri leave, along with the young police officer, Richter.

  “You married?” they hear Klein ask him on the way out.

  “No, thank god.”

  “Girlfriend? Mother? Sister? Buddies?”

  The officer looks confused. “Of course.”

  “And you’re going to tell them what, about tonight?”

  Richter’s face clears. “Oh, right. Um, that there was a reported theft at the café but after an extensive and time-consuming search, we found the missing equipment?”

  Klein laughs. “You’ll be a great cop yet.”

  “Come on, Melusine,” Dieter says, “I’m taking you and the young puppy home. Goodnight everyone.”

  “Mami, be careful,” Jonas says. “I’ll come by and see you in the morning.”

  Nika hands over the bag of purchases. “Come on Jonas. You need some serious TLC after today.”

  They wave and head out the door.

  Melusine notic
es that Felix is looking forlorn.

  “You okay, Sweetie?” she says.

  “Yes, fine,” Felix says but her chin quivers unmistakeably.

  Melusine and Martin both turn to Dieter with beseeching looks.

  “Oh fine, then,” he says brusquely. “You can come too. Just no partying, okay?”

  Felix squeals loudly enough to make Tommy stir and then she clamps a hand to her mouth.

  “See what I mean,” Dieter says, but he says it kindly, “she’s already making enough noise to wake the neighbours. Okay, campers, let’s hit the road.”

  Melusine and Felix follow Dieter’s Porsche, with Felix sitting in the backseat, buckled up and carefully cradling Tommy.

  Once they are at Dieter’s, exhaustion hits.

  Melusine and Felix bath Tommy together and take turns showering.

  Later they are both lying on a vast bed, with Tommy in between them, barricaded by pillows. He wakes up to feed and promptly falls asleep again.

  Melusine is wearing a pair of Dieter’s pajamas and Felix has joyfully raided Martin’s closet.

  “I want all of it back,” Martin says and Felix grimaces.

  “Why would I keep such boy-wear? I’m just enjoying the feeling of silk on my naked skin.”

  “Such a slut,” Martin says. “Goodnight, you two. I’m glad Dieter and I are escaping to a safari soon, this is all too much excitement for me.”

  “What do you make of it all?” Felix asks Melusine, as they relax on the big bed and Melusine shakes her head.

  “I don’t have a single clue,” she says. “Not one iota of an idea. I do worry though that this will end badly. How can it not? Oh, Felix. I have a feeling of foreboding.”

  Felix leans over and strokes Melusine’s hand. “I know. Me too. Come on, let’s put this little fellow into his laundry basket. Only Dieter would have a laundry basket that can double as a Gucci baby’s cot.” They laugh quietly and deposit Tommy carefully and Melusine sets the alarm clock.

  “Try to get some rest,” Felix says, kissing Melusine on the cheek. “We’ll figure it out in the morning.”

  40.

  IN THE MORNING, they feel none the wiser. If anything, they are more perplexed than ever. They tiptoe out of Dieter’s home, carrying Tommy and arrive at the café at the usual time. Melusine starts baking while Felix cleans up the mess from the night before and Tommy sleeps peacefully. As soon as the breakfast rush leaves, Melusine phones Klein who promises her an update later in the day, and he makes good on his word.