The Second Son

The man across the table ran the back of his fingers through his beard and then slid a pawn forward one square. Piera’s friend stared a moment longer, peering over at a completely different area of the board before sitting back. Only then did he look up at Hoffner. He took a moment and said, “He has a pretty daughter-Piera. Have you met her?”

“I’m impressed,” said Hoffner. “You’d think you’d be able to smell it up here.”

“What, Piera’s daughter? I hope not.”

In a different place, a different time, Hoffner would have cracked the man across the face, but that kind of brutality was too easy now. Instead, Hoffner picked up one of the pieces on the side of the board.

“You’re a long way from home, aren’t you?” Hoffner said. When the man continued to stare, Hoffner added, “I was thinking Polish from the accent, but the face is wrong. Maybe Czech or Romanian. You boys are always good with chess.”

It might have been animal instinct, but the bearded man across the table now slowly pushed back his chair. He took out a pack of cigarettes and moved off, happy to go smoke in a corner.

Hoffner said, “Your friend’s accustomed to stepping away from the game?”

“Usually with his king down.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Hoffner said, as he set the piece down. “You’re quite the hero. Drawing with Capablanca. Very impressive.” It was nice to see the jaw tighten. “I’ve never understood that. No wi

The man’s tone was equally tight when he spoke. “What do you want?”

“Don’t worry-it’s not about the drugs.” It might have been. Gardenyes’s note had mentioned the writer Bernhardt and his predilection, but Hoffner knew that could wait. Georg’s wire had been very clear: Han Shen was co

“Germans,” said Hoffner. “You’ve had a few of them playing in here the last few weeks.”

“Have I? We don’t check papers at the door.”

“Not good for business.”

“No.”

“Bit of a drop-off since the fighting started?”

“What fighting?” The man spoke with a goading insincerity. “I haven’t heard any shots today, have you?”

Hoffner regretted not having slapped him. “So, business as usual?”

The man set his hands on the table. “Something like that.” He started to get up, and Hoffner quietly gripped the shoulder and arm and held them in place. The man sat back down.

Hoffner said, “I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and say you’re too clever to be in deep with what’s going on downstairs. You turn a blind eye and they make it worth your while. No crime in that.”

The man said coldly, “There is no crime in Barcelona these days-haven’t you heard?” Hoffner tightened his grip and the man said, “It’s as a courtesy to Piera I’m talking with you.”

“The same courtesy that’s keeping your arm from snapping in two. We understand each other?”

The man winced, then nodded.

Hoffner said, “There’s a man named Vollman. From the Olimpiada. I need to find him.”

The answer was too long in coming. “I don’t know him.”

“Yes, you do. He would have been in here a few days before the games.” Hoffner turned the elbow and watched as the man’s eyes tried to fight back the pain.

The man said, “I wouldn’t know where he is.”

“We both know that’s not true.”

The man chanced a look at his friend, who was still smoking in the corner. Almost at once, the bearded man tossed the cigarette to the ground and bolted for the door. He was surprisingly agile and might have made it had Piera not whacked his cane across the man’s kneecap. There was the expected yowling, the looks of pain and panic-all the trappings of men caught up in something well beyond their means.

Hoffner said, “That was remarkably stupid. Where is he?”

The sight of his friend sprawled on the floor brought a final tensing of defiance from the man in the chair. Just as quickly his shoulders dropped. He stared down at the board and said, “You’re scum to help these people, Piera.”

Piera looked particularly daunting standing over the bearded one. “This from a man who helps the Chinks run their poison up from the south.”

The man said bitterly, “So it’s not just your son, Piera, is it?”

Hoffner was having trouble following the sudden turn in the conversation. He was, however, quick enough to keep Piera’s cane from landing on the man’s skull.

Hoffner said, “Enough. We all take a step back.”

Hoffner waited and then released. It was another few seconds before Piera slowly brought the cane down.

“What people?” Hoffner asked.

The man snorted to himself, then mumbled something in a Catalan only vaguely familiar. Finally he said, in Spanish, “No, I’m sure you have no idea.”

Hoffner noticed the four sets of eyes peering over from the other tables. Piera was staring at him as well. Oddly enough it was Piera’s expression that was most unsettling. Hoffner did his best to ignore it. He turned to the man and repeated, “What people?”

From behind him Piera said, “You haven’t made a fool of me or my daughter, have you?” There was a quiet accusation in the voice.

Hoffner turned to him. “What?”

“It’s a simple question,” said Piera.

The silence only deepened Hoffner’s confusion. “No,” he said. “I haven’t.”

“Then why does he think you’re hunting down this Vollman for the fascists?”

The thought was absurd. Hoffner continued to stare, and Piera said, “He believes we are also fascists.”

Hoffner was doing what he could to make sense of the last half minute. He turned to the man, the eyes now fixed on the far wall. Hoffner saw their contempt and instantly understood why.

“Who else has been in here asking about Vollman?” said Hoffner. When the man refused to look up, Hoffner again grabbed him by the arm. “Who else?”

The man took his time. “Germans,” he said. “Germans-like you.”

“Not like me. Who?”

“Yes, like you.” The man continued to stare straight ahead. “Twisting arms, beating faces, breaking knees. Exactly like you.”

The hatred in the eyes was now unassailable. It was no match, though, for the sudden revulsion Hoffner felt for himself. He slowly released the man and said, “That’s not who I am. I thought you were-” Hoffner shook his head. “You know what I thought you were.”

The man turned to him. “Do I?”

Hoffner was having trouble matching the gaze. “The drugs. I assumed-”

“What? That Communists can’t peddle drugs? We run it as a collective, if that makes you feel any better. Are even the good Germans like this now?”

Hoffner found himself staring into the man’s eyes even as the words gutted him. “No,” he said quietly. “They’re not.”

“And you believe that?”

It was all Hoffner could do to answer. “I’m trying to find one of the good ones. My son. I assume your Vollman is another.”

The man studied him. There was a moment’s uncertainty. “Your son?”

“Yes. A filmmaker.”

Again the man waited. Hoffner saw another moment in the eyes before the man said, “The boy from Pathe Gazette?”

It was said so easily, and yet Hoffner felt it to his core. Georg had been here. Hoffner nodded.

The man thought something through and then turned to Piera. “Your son, Piera,” he said. There was regret in the voice. “I was sorry to hear about that.”

“So was I,” said Piera. “You know where this Vollman is?” The man nodded and Piera said, “Then you’re lucky. I would have broken the arm.”

The man knew every twist and bend of the Raval’s back alleys. Piera had stayed behind. The morning’s events had taken it out of him. Still, he was in better shape than the one with the beard. The knee was already the size of a melon. Piera offered no apologies.

They drew up to a building and the man pulled out a set of keys. The alley was empty. Even so, he peered off in both directions. Satisfied, he unlocked the door and ushered Hoffner in.