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The man’s eyes stood out in stark contrast to the whiteness of his face. An area near his eye twitched, and his breath was coming very fast.
“Ich habe keine Ahnung, wovon Sie sprechen.”“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Schon klar. Vielleicht glaubt er Ihnen ja. Vielleicht,” she paused, “aber auch nicht.” She waited for a reaction, and then took a chance. “Was wurde wohl passieren, we
When Keppelma
“Sie haben genau drei?ig Sekunden, Herr Keppelma
It took less than ten for him to nod. “Ich gebe Ihnen Namen und Adresse.”It took less than ten for him to nod. “I’ll give you the name and address.”
“Danke.” Teren stepped back and resumed her seat in the chair.“Thank you.” Teren stepped back and resumed her seat in the chair.
Keppelma
“Ich scheine das falsche Buch hierzuhaben. Das Richtige ist wohl unten bei Herrn Wudin.”“It, ah, seems I have the wrong book. I believe the book I’m looking for is downstairs with Mr. Wudin.”
Teren stood. “Da
Keppelma
They went down a back staircase, and through another storage area. Keppelma
She put a hand on his shoulder, and he jumped, giving a short cry. She mentally rolled her eyes.
“Was ist los, Herr Keppelma
“Es tut mir leid, Frau Fleming, aber ich ka
“Gibt es hier noch jemanden, der es haben ko
Keppelma
“Da
“Ja, naturlich. Er mu?te unten im Laden sein. Wurden Sie mir bitte folgen?”“Of - of course. He should be in the shop. Will you follow me, please?”
Once again, Teren followed behind Keppelma
“Herr Wudin, haben Sie das Lieferantenbuch?”“Mr. Wudin, do you have the book of suppliers?”
Rolf looked up from his conversation with Alex. “Ja. Hier ist es.” He pulled a thin brown notebook out from under the ledger, and handed it to the younger man. “Ist irgendwas?”Rolf looked up from his conversation with Alex. “Yes, it is here.” He pulled a thin brown notebook out from under the ledger, and handed it to the younger man. “Is there a problem?”
“Nein.” Keppelma
Rolf began to turn red. Alex, who had continued perusing the volume, finally looked up to see Teren standing besides a shorter, thin man with a black mustache. She noticed the paleness of the figure, and wondered if that was his natural color.
“Herr Keppelma
Keppelma
Teren nudged the man, and Alex noticed that he turned a half shade whiter. “Sie spricht kein Deutsch.”Teren nudged the man, and Alex noticed that he turned a half shade whiter. “She doesn’t speak German.”
Keppelma
Teren shrugged. “So ein Pech aber auch.”Teren shrugged.“Too bad.”
She switched to her native language. “Find something interesting?”
“Possibly. You?”
“Yes. This is Mr. Keppelma
“I see.”
“Should only be a few more minutes. Are you almost finished?”
Alex nodded.
“Good.” Teren fought the urge to wink at the shorter woman. “Back in a minute.”
Teren placed a hand on Keppelma
“May I ask who that was?”
She glanced up at Rolf. “I’m sorry, Rolf. It’s better if I don’t tell you.”
The man’s eyebrows rose above the frames of his glasses. “Why?”
“Because, even though she’s my friend, she’s hard to explain.”
Rolf nodded. “I see. And her name?”
Alex gri
The two of them stared at one another, then Alex couldn’t hold her chuckles in anymore. After a moment, Rolf joined her laughter.
Teren came out of the curtained back room.
“What are you two laughing about?”
Alex tried hard to stifle her chuckles. Rolf pointed at Teren, and tried to look serious. “So, you are trouble?”
Teren lifted one eyebrow. “I suppose you could call me that.”
Rolf nodded, and glanced at Alex. “You are from the America, yes?”
“Yes.”
“You probably get some very strange looks when you give them your passport, no?”
Alex made the co
Teren just shook her head.
“I can’t take you anywhere, can I, Alex?”
*******************************************************
They left the Altbusser Galerie at twenty after six. Teren told Alex the basics of her conversation with Keppelma
“It seems someone there does a fair trade in items from the Nazi era. Including items that have been missing since the Nazi’s confiscated them.”
“Like the statue you showed me?”
Alex nodded. “Exactly. That silver cross came from a young man from Munich, who sold it and quite a few other items to the store. I have the list here; Rolf was kind enough to make a copy of it for me, along with the name and address of the seller, and a few other papers.”
“Good. Anything interesting?”
“Your friend Keppelma
Teren frowned. “Did Rolf give you any idea where the items went?”
“Rolf wasn’t sure about all of them, but he knew that one of them went to the US, because he helped box it up. He couldn’t remember anything other than the country, though, and there was no invoice.”
Teren sighed. “Five bucks says it went to Treville.”