“To you, we’re closed.”
“To me?”
“You’re not Paul Reiner, then?”
“How do you know my name?”
“You fit the description. Tall, thin, glassy-eyed, handsome as the devil. There were other adjectives, too, but best if I don’t repeat them.”
There was a crash from the back room. Hearing it, Paul tried to look over the photographer’s shoulder.
“Is Alys in there?”
“Must be the cat.”
“That didn’t sound like a cat.”
“No, it sounded like an empty developing tray being dropped on the floor. But Alys isn’t here, so it must be the cat.”
There was another crash, this time louder.
“There goes another one. Just as well they’re made of metal,” said August Muntz, lighting a cigarette with an elegant flourish.
“You’d best go feed that cat. It seems hungry.”
“Furious, rather.”
“I can understand why,” said Paul, lowering his head.
“Listen, my friend, she did leave something for you.”
The photographer held out a photograph to him, facedown. Paul turned it over and saw a slightly blurred picture, taken in a park.
“It’s a woman asleep on a bench in the Englischer Garten.”
August took a long drag on his cigarette.
“The day she took this photograph… it was her first outing on her own. I lent her a camera to go round the city looking for an image that would move me. She spent her time walking round a park, like all beginners. Suddenly she spotted this woman sitting on a bench, and the woman’s stillness appealed to Alys. She took a photo and then went to thank her. The woman didn’t reply, and when Alys touched her shoulder, she fell to the ground.”
“She was dead,” said Paul, horrified, suddenly understanding the truth of what he was looking at.
“Starved to death,” replied August, taking one final drag, then stubbing the cigarette out in an ashtray.
Paul gripped the counter for a few moments, his gaze fixed on the photograph. Eventually he handed it back.
“Thank you for showing me this. Please tell Alys that if she goes to this address the day after tomorrow,” he said, taking a piece of paper and a pencil from the counter and making a note, “she’ll see just how well I’ve understood.”
A minute after Paul had left, Alys came out of the darkroom.
“I hope you haven’t dented those trays. Otherwise you’re going to be the one hammering them back into shape.”
“You said too much, August. And that thing with the photo… I didn’t ask you to give him anything.”
“He’s in love with you.”
“How do you know?”
“I know a lot about men in love. Especially how hard it is to find them.”
“Things started off badly between us,” said Alys, shaking her head.
“So? The day begins at midnight, in the middle of darkness. From then on, everything is light.”
27
There was an enormous queue outside Ziegler Bank.
The previous night, when she’d gone to bed in the room she rented not far from the studio, Alys had decided that she wasn’t going to see Paul. She repeated this to herself as she got ready, as she tried on her collection of hats-which consisted of only two-and as she took a trolley she never usually took. She was completely surprised to find herself by the queue for the bank.
As she approached she noticed that there were in fact two queues. One led to the bank, the other to the entrance next door. People were coming out of the second door with smiles on their faces, carrying bags bulging with sausages, bread, and enormous stalks of celery.
Paul was in the place next door with another man who was weighing up vegetables and hams and attending to his customers. When he saw Alys, Paul pushed his way through the crowd of people waiting to get into the store.
“The tobacconist’s shop next to us had to close when the business went under. We’ve reopened it and made it into another grocer’s shop for Herr Ziegler. He’s a happy man.”
“The people are happy, too, from what I can see.”
“We sell merchandise at cost, and we sell on credit to all the bank’s customers. We’re eating up every last pfennig of our profits, but the workers and pensioners-everyone who can’t keep up with the ridiculous pace of inflation-they are all very grateful to us. Today the dollar’s at over three million marks.”
“You’re losing a fortune.”
Paul shrugged.
“We’ll be giving out soup to those who need it in the evenings, starting next week. It won’t be like the Jesuits, because we’ll only have enough for five hundred portions, but we’ve already got a group of volunteers.”
Alys was looking at him, her eyes narrowed.
“You’re doing all this for me?”
“I’m doing it because I can. Because it’s the right thing to do. Because I was struck by the photo of the woman in the park. Because this city’s going to hell. And yes, because I behaved like an idiot and I want you to forgive me.”
“I’ve already forgiven you,” she replied, walking away.
“Then why are you going?” he asked, throwing his arms wide in disbelief.
“Because I’m still angry with you!”
Paul was just about to run after her, but Alys turned and smiled at him.
“But you can come and pick me up tomorrow night and see if it’s passed.”
28
“Therefore I consider you to be ready to begin this journey on which your worth will be tested. Bend down.”
Paul obeyed, and the man in the suit placed a thick black hood over his head. With a sharp tug he adjusted two leather straps around Paul’s neck.
“Can you see anything?”
“No.”
Paul’s own voice sounded strange inside the hood, and the sounds around him seemed to come from another world.
“There are two holes at the back. If you are short of air, pull it away from your neck slightly.”
“Thank you.”
“Now hold my left arm tightly with your right arm. We will be covering a great distance together. It is very important that you move forward when I tell you to, without hesitation. There is no need to hurry, but you must listen closely to your instructions. At certain points I will tell you to walk, placing one foot in front of the other. At others, I will tell you to lift your knees to go up or down stairs. Are you ready?”
