Tidal Shift

by Dora Heldt

  It also seemed like he could read her thoughts. “Well, you always talk so loudly. I was oiling the mower behind the greenhouse, so I didn’t even need to eavesdrop. I could hear perfectly well.”

  “But we don’t even know who that was. Maybe she had some appointment, something completely harmless.”

  Heinz shook his head with a patronizing smile. “Completely harmless? No, that was her suitor. No woman leaves a man like Walter out of the blue, especially not after so many years. There’s almost always a new man involved when people act rashly like this. Believe me, child, I’ve seen enough films! Otherwise, she would have told you what was going on.”

  “But I didn’t even ask her. I made sure not to, because she asked us to leave her in peace.”

  Heinz dismissed her interjection with a wave of his hand. “If it had been something harmless, she would have told us about it. I know her. No, no, this strange man is the only logical explanation. Walter agrees with me.”

  “What did you say to him?”

  “That she has an admirer. And that we can’t let this go without a fight.”

  Christine took a deep breath. Heinz was talking himself into a rage.

  “We have to find out who this man is. You have to know your enemies; otherwise, you can’t beat them. And that’s what we’re going to do. We’re…”

  He looked at her with a fiery gaze and was promptly interrupted by Kalli.

  “Why are you shouting like that? I could hear you from upstairs.”

  Heinz wrinkled his forehead. “Are those my good pants?”

  Kalli was wearing a very elegant pair of black trousers and a white shirt. He stroked the material and nodded. “They were in the closet. You did say I could borrow something.”

  Christine noticed that his hair looked completely different. It seemed he had used her mother’s expensive styling gel too. “You look very smart,” she said quickly. “Do you have something in your hair?”

  “Yes.” He stroked his hand carefully over the sticky mass. “It was a green bottle. Some kind of pomade.”

  Christine’s suspicion was correct. Heinz moved a little to the side and patted the kitchen bench next to him.

  “Sit down here. And put a napkin over your…um…my pants. I don’t want you to ruin them by spilling egg on them,” Heinz said.

  Before Kalli could sit down, Walter appeared at the table. “What’s going on here then?” He smacked his hand on Kalli’s shoulder. “Waiter, I’d like a boilermaker, please, and make it quick.” He burst out laughing and sat down.

  “Why are you calling him a waiter?” Heinz shook his head indignantly. “Those are my best trousers, and I’ll have you know they were very expensive. The shirt is designer. I got it last year as a Christmas present, and it cost over a hundred euros. I found the receipt—Charlotte always keeps receipts in case we needed to exchange things.”

  “A hundred euros!” Walter gasped for air, horrified. “For a shirt! And it doesn’t even look that expensive. That’s insane! Kalli, put something over it, will you?”

  Kalli was still standing up. Christine gently pushed him down onto the kitchen bench and fetched the coffeepot. He looked up at her hesitantly. “Should I maybe get changed first though?”

  “Spread out that napkin. Just be careful, and it’ll be fine,” Christine said reassuringly, and then she turned to a situation that was potentially even messier. “So, Uncle Walter, how are you?”

  “Good. Everything’s fine. Why?”

  Heinz nudged him. “I told her. She knows, so you don’t have to protect her. And by the way, it was Christine who had cottoned on to the whole thing in the first place.”

  “Dad!”

  “What’s going on?” Kalli looked around at them all, baffled.

  Walter carried on chewing, unperturbed. Heinz answered for him. “Inge has an admirer. Or something along those lines. In any case, there’s another man in the picture. So we have to stand by Walter now. He can’t just put up with it.”

  “Seriously?” Kalli seemed genuinely horrified. “When did that come out? Just now?”

  “Pass me the salt, please.” Walter sliced the top off his egg with one single stroke. “I found out yesterday evening. You went to bed early, remember? And then snored like an elk, by the way.”

  “Sorry. But I had a hard day—you try flying across the North Sea with a kamikaze pilot. It takes its toll, you know. So what are you planning to do now, Walter? I can’t believe it.”

  Christine touched his arm gently. “Kalli, don’t get worked up. Nothing’s been proven yet. It’s probably best if you guys go to see Inge, or rather, if Uncle Walter goes there and speaks with her in private. Then, in all likelihood, this ominous admirer theory will turn out to be something completely harmless. Right then. Does anyone want a roll?”

  Walter took one and looked sadly at Christine. “But Inge doesn’t want to talk. Not with me, and not with Heinz either. Your father’s right. We have to get to the bottom of this ourselves, whether we want to or not. You have to know your enemies…”

  “Uncle Walter,” she interrupted him. “Don’t let yourself get carried away with this big story all because my father watches too many movies. And stop coming out with those clichéd sayings. To listen to you, anyone would think you were planning to murder someone.”

  When Heinz gave Walter an encouraging nudge in the side, Kalli suddenly looked fearful. In an effort to suppress her growing concern, Christine looked out of the window and, to her immense relief, saw Johann jogging toward the house.

  “Johann’s coming,” she said and stood up. “Now, please stop this conversation right now. After what my dad—and Kalli—put him through in Norderney, he especially will not like hearing you’re on a mission to wreak revenge on Aunt Inge’s fictional admirer!”

  Kalli turned toward her, his expression composed. “Well, it’s not nice to hear that your wife’s fooling around. No man likes hearing that he’s being a cuckold. Oh, sorry, Walter.”

  “That’s enough now.” Walter reached for the third roll. “That’s not going to happen. We just need to take care of a certain person.”

  “Exactly!” Heinz waved the knife about, causing a little drop of marmalade to fall onto Kalli’s pant leg. “And that’s why we’re going to the Ulenhof Hotel right away, to speak with our charming friend Renate.”

  “Dad, I—”

  “Exactly,” Walter interrupted her. “She was rude to me on the phone, but Heinz said she’s delightful in person. And Renate likes gossiping, right? I’m sure we’ll manage to get her to talk.”

  Christine was getting agitated. “I think that’s a ridiculous idea. I—”

  “What’s a ridiculous idea? Good morning, gentlemen. The back door was open.” Johann walked in with beads of sweat dripping off his forehead.

  “Heinz has such strange aftershave.” Kalli sniffed in the direction of the hallway. “I used it once by mistake, and the smell just won’t go away. Dreadful stuff, Heinz. You really should buy another kind.”

  Johann zipped up his jacket. “Well, I don’t think I smell much better. So what’s this ‘ridiculous’ idea then?”

  “That we might go jogging with you tomorrow morning,” answered Walter. “Heinz suggested it because Kalli is getting a bit of a belly.”

  Christine looked at Kalli warningly, who swallowed down his hurt response and instead said, “Yes, and I’ve already said it’s a silly idea. It’d be much too tiring.”

  Johann looked at the three of them. “Well, as far as I’m concerned, you’re welcome to come if you’d like to. I can go slowly.”

  “Yes, we’ll see.” Christine pushed him energetically out of the kitchen. “Have a good day, you three, we’ll speak this evening. ’Bye.”

  Before they shut the door behind them, she heard her father say, “Thanks, Walter. You couldn’t think of anything else, I presume?”

  “Nope,” was his answer. “Not off the top of my head.”

  Heinz drove the car ba
ck and forth twice before he was correctly positioned in the parking spot. Walter looked out of the window and retorted, “You’re in exactly the same position as you were the first time.”

  “No, I’m not.” Heinz opened the door and looked at the ground. “I’m four inches away from the line now. Just as I should be.”

  Kalli, who was sitting in the back, scooted forward a little and patted Walter’s headrest.

  “Does this lady even know we’re coming?”

  “No.” Heinz turned the engine off. “You can’t underestimate the element of surprise. We want her to talk, remember.”

  “Aha.” Kalli undid his seat belt and opened the door. “Then let’s go surprise her. What’s her name?”

  “Renate.” Heinz was getting out now too. “We’ve already told you that.”

  “Yes, but what’s her surname?”

  Heinz looked at Walter. “Renate…er, do you know?”

  Walter shook his head. “No idea. She was always very curt on the phone, so I didn’t get the chance to ask her.”

  Kalli shook his head. “You guys aren’t at all prepared! Well, I’m sure there can only be two or three Renates in the hotel at most, so we’ll just check them all out. Hopefully Heinz will recognize her.”

  “Of course. I have an excellent memory, especially when it comes to faces. Come on then.”

  They walked over to the hotel together. Heinz was the first to walk in the main door. Before he could say anything to the receptionist, he heard a surprised voice cry out behind him.

  “Are you here to see me?”

  He spun around and saw Renate. She was standing in front of him in a fiery red dress, with a little bottle of champagne in one hand and her room key in the other. She nodded to the receptionist and said, “The gentleman—the gentlemen, sorry—are with me.” Then she turned back to them and asked, “Is something wrong with Inge?”

  Heinz made a charming bow to her. “No, no,” he purred. “We just wanted to pay you a visit. That is, my friend Kalli, my brother-in-law, Walter, and I wanted to.”

  Renate wrinkled her brow and looked Walter up and down. “You’re Inge’s husband?”

  Walter nodded his head enthusiastically. “Lovely to meet you, my dear lady. We’ve already spoken on the phone, albeit briefly. Are we interrupting a party?” He stared at the champagne bottle curiously. After all, it was only just midday.

  Renate flung back her auburn mane. “No, no. I’m just of the opinion that life is too short to drink unpleasant things. So now and then I treat myself to a little Piccolo champagne to celebrate my life. You have to make everyday life enjoyable, don’t you think?”

  She fixed her penetrating gaze on Kalli, and he went red. “You have very lovely hair,” he stuttered, drawing a reprimanding look from Heinz and a confused one from Walter. Kalli shrugged. “That’s all. I mean, it’s okay to say that, right?”

  Renate, every inch the grand dame, had the situation totally under control. “May I suggest we sit down in the garden? We can chat better there. I’m just not sure what you’d like to drink…my little bottle won’t be enough for everyone, unfortunately. So…?”

  “Well, champagne of course!” Heinz declared right away. Walter swallowed and then nodded with a tormented expression.

  “Excellent choice,” said Renate, before walking off with a swing of her hips, Kalli and Heinz in tow. Only Walter paused in the reception area and said quietly, “Just bring a small bottle, please. What does it cost, anyway? Oh, and I’ll have a Pils. A small one.”

  Renate sat down on the small garden bench. The three men looked at her, unable to hide their discomfort. Eventually, Walter took a deep breath. “May I?” he said, not even waiting for her gracious approval before sitting down next to her. There wasn’t much room.

  Walter only exhaled once he was settled in a relatively comfortable position. “That’ll do,” he said, waving impatiently at Heinz and Kalli. “Sit down, will you. Don’t stand around awkwardly.”

  When the waitress arrived with the drinks, Heinz eyed Walter’s beer enviously. “Oh, you…” he started to say, then got a grip on himself and nodded at Renate. “The champagne was a really good idea. Cheers, then!”

  “I would have preferred…” Kalli’s voice faded away when Walter glared at him.

  “Cheers, gentlemen!” Renate raised her glass gracefully and looked out at them with a cat’s preening look of satisfaction. “I’m intrigued to hear what you want from me.” She drank with her eyes closed and put her glass back down. “So? I’m assuming it’s about Inge?”

  Kalli burped and clapped his hand in front of his mouth in embarrassment. His answer was a little unclear as a result. “I’m not sure, exactly. I went to bed early and didn’t hear the start of it.”

  Walter tried to lean forward and put his glass on the table. But he couldn’t reach, so he kept it in his hand. “Tell me, Renate. When women are close friends, they tell each other pretty much everything, right?”

  Her facial expression was inscrutable. Heinz rushed to his brother-in-law’s aid. “You see, we know you’re a close friend of my sister’s. And you were at the spa with her and spent a few weeks together. I imagine you tell each other stories in that situation, you know, sitting in the sauna or in the steam room.”

  “Well, we talked a lot, of course…” Renate held out her empty glass for one of the men to refill. Kalli was the only one to react. Walter and Heinz were too busy waiting for her to continue. “We talked about everything under the sun. About our marriages…I was married to a dentist for almost thirty years, before…I left him…and about cosmetics, travel, shoes—the kind of things women normally talk about. Why?”

  “About men too?” Walter looked at her, intrigued. “In general perhaps?”

  “And specifically, yes.” She giggled. “I’m sure my ex-husband Werner’s ears were burning, the amount of times I talked about how awful he was. But that’s…well, never mind. Walter, you look very pale all of a sudden.”

  “Oh, just because my beer is empty.” Walter wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Kalli, it’s difficult for me to get out of here. Could you…?”

  “Yes, sure!” Kalli stood up right away. “I’ll go fetch you one!”

  Renate watched him go. “What a charming man. So eager to help.”

  “He’s just thirsty.” Heinz refilled Renate’s glass. “I can tell you have a lot of life experience and a very warm heart.” Walter raised his eyebrows and stared at his brother-in-law, dumbfounded. But Heinz carried on talking. “You understand women when they’re going through a crisis. That’s my impression at least. I could be wrong, of course.”

  “No.” Renate leaned forward and put her hand on Heinz’s knee. “You’re totally right. Please continue.”

  “So, I’ll be frank. My sister is going through a midlife crisis…and we just can’t figure out why that is. I mean, she had such a good life…”

  Renate pursed her lips. “Well…” she said, under her breath.

  Walter had good hearing. “What is it? Did she say something bad about me? I don’t understand—I haven’t changed in forty years. And she always liked the way things were before.”

  His innocent look did the trick with Renate. She put her hand on his arm reassuringly. “Women in…er…desperate situations have a tendency to overexaggerate. And there’s usually something completely different behind it.”

  “Exactly!” Heinz pointed his finger at her. “And we have to find out exactly what that is. Renate, you’re our last hope. And I—”

  At that moment, Kalli came back and put two Pils down on the table with a flourish. “Heinz, you have to drive, so I just brought one for myself and one for Walter. Did I miss anything?”

  “Just the fact that people get selfish when they drink,” answered Heinz, hurt. “You could drive back, too, you know.”

  Renate turned around to Kalli. “Are you married, by the way?”

  He choked, coughed, and answered, “Yes, of course. My wife ha
sn’t left me.”

  She looked at him a little regretfully. Then she came back to the topic at hand. “Your instinct is correct, Heinz,” she said, with a side glance at Walter, “even if it hurts. I’m torn between my loyalty to my friend and my sense of decency and honesty.” She gave Walter another intense look, then simpered at Heinz and Kalli. “Of course, I kept my thoughts to myself and just listened to Inge. She didn’t tell me all the details, but I can read a lot into what went unsaid. Nothing gets past me.”

  She looked around at them meaningfully. Then she flung her hair back with such a flourish that a few strands flew into Walter’s face, making him jump. “There’s a new man,” she explained mysteriously, “and, naturally, I figured out who it is.” The men were hanging on her every word, and she was clearly enjoying it.

  Heinz was the first to find his voice. “And? Who is it?”

  “He’s good-looking, charming, intelligent, well-off, and comes from the island.”

  “That description could fit over five hundred men,” answered Walter. “And, aside from the coming-from-the-island part, me too.” He giggled and brushed his hand through his hair.

  His brother-in-law gave him a stern look. “Walter, pull yourself together. This is hard for me too. Come on, Renate, tell us his name.”

  Her tone was triumphant. “His name is Mark Kampmann.”

  There was puzzled silence.

  “Kampmann?” Disappointed, Heinz leaned back. “No, you’ve made a mistake. He’s a lawyer from Westerland. I think Inge had an appointment with him, but he’s not an admirer. And he’s a lot younger than her too.”

  Renate hadn’t expected such a muted reaction. She upped the stakes. “Yes, that’s true, she had an appointment with him. Brace yourself now, Walter. It was about the divorce! And it seemed a flame was kindled when they met. Since then he’s been sending her bouquets of flowers and phoning her relentlessly. The two of them had even planned a romantic trip, but they had to postpone it due to the break-in. That’s the honest truth, gentlemen.”