“Food? What food had he?”
“Some frozen potatoes he’d taken from a barn.” George smiled. “You know, Sergeant, I’ve got the complete account of all this written out by Franz Schirmer’s second son, Hans. That’s the one who emigrated to America. He wrote it out for his children, to show them what a fine man their grandfather had been.”
“You have this here?”
“I have a copy at the hotel in Florina.”
“I may see it?” He was eager now.
“Sure. You can have it. You’ll probably have the original eventually. I guess all the family papers are rightfully yours.”
“Ah yes. The family papers.” He nodded thoughtfully.
“But what Hans wrote isn’t the whole story by any means. There were some things Franz Schirmer didn’t tell his children.”
“So? What things?”
George went on to tell him then about the meeting with Maria, about Mr. Moreton’s investigation, and about his discovery of the truth in the army records at Potsdam.
The Sergeant listened without interruption now; and when George finished he remained silent for a moment or two staring down at the table in front of him. At last he looked up and there was a quiet smile of satisfaction on his face.
“That was a man,” he said to Arthur.
“One of the boys, all right,” Arthur agreed, nodding; “same name and rank, too. Let’s see-Dragoons were…”
But the Sergeant had turned to George again. “And this Maria. She was my great Urgrossmutter?”
“That’s right. Her first son, Karl, was your Urgrossvater. But you see the strong case we have through knowing about the change of name. Amelia Schneider’s first cousin was your grandfather, Friedrich, and he survived her. You remember him?”
The Sergeant nodded vaguely. “Yes. I remember.”
“Legally, he inherited the money. You will inherit from him through your father. Of course your claim may have to be advanced through the German or maybe the Swiss courts. You may have to apply for Swiss papers first. I don’t know, It depends on the attitude of the Pennsylvania court. Certainly we can expect the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to fight. What the attitude of the Alien Property Custodian will be we don’t yet know. It’ll be tough, but I guess you won’t mind that, eh?”
“No.” But he did not appear either to understand or to be paying much attention to what George was saying. “I have never been to Ansbach,” he said slowly.
“Well, you’ll have plenty of time later on, I guess. Now, about the business side of it all. The law firm I represent are the attorneys for the administrator of the estate, so we couldn’t act for you ourselves. You’d have to retain someone else. I don’t know whether or not you can afford to put up money for the costs of fighting the case. They’d be pretty heavy. If you. didn’t want to do that we could recommend a good firm. They would act for you on a contingency basis. Explain it all, Miss Kolin, will you please?”
She explained. He listened absently and then nodded.
“You understand?” George asked.
“Yes. I understand. You do all.”
“Very well. Now, how soon can you leave for America?”
George saw Arthur look at him sharply. Now the trouble was going to start.
The Sergeant frowned. “America?”
“Yes. We could travel together if you like.”
“But I do not wish to go to America.”
“Well, Sergeant, if you’re going to claim your estate, I’m afraid you’ll have to go.” George smiled. “The case can’t be fought without you.”
“You said that you would do all.”
“I said we would recommend a firm of attorneys to represent you. But they can’t fight the case without producing the claimant. They’ll have to prove your identity and so on. The state and the Alien Property Custodian’s lawyer will want to ask you a lot of questions.”
“What questions?”
“Every sort of question. We’d better be quite clear about that. You’re liable to have to account for every moment of your life, especially the bit since you were reported missing.”
“That’s torn it,” said Arthur.
George misunderstood the remark with great care.
“Oh, I don’t think the Sergeant has any cause to worry on that score,” he said. “This is purely a domestic legal matter. The fact that he’s been fighting in a civil war here is of no interest to Pennsylvania. We might run into some trouble getting a visa, but I think we could get over that in view of the special circumstances. Of course, the Greeks could make it tough for him if he wanted to return here afterwards, but beyond that there’s nothing they can do. After all, it’s not as if he’d committed some felony for which he could be extradited by the Greek government, is it?” He paused. “You’d better translate that, Miss Kolin,” he added.
Miss Kolin translated. When she had finished, there was a tense silence. The Sergeant and Arthur stared at one another grimly. At last the Sergeant turned to George again.
“How much you say, this money?”
“Well, I’m going to be frank with you, Sergeant. Until I was quite sure who you were, I didn’t want to make it sound too attractive. Now, you’d better know the facts. After various tax deductions, you stand to get about half a million dollars.”
“Crikey!” said Arthur, and the Sergeant swore violently in German.
“Of course, that is only if you win the case. The Commonwealth is after the money too. Obviously, they’ll try to prove that you’re an impostor and you’ll have to be able to prove that you’re not.”
The Sergeant had risen impatiently and was pouring himself another glass of wine. George went on talking without a pause.
“It shouldn’t be difficult, I think, if it’s gone about in the right way. There are all sorts of possibilities. For instance, supposing for some reason you’d had your fingerprints taken-while you were in the German army, say-why then you wouldn’t have any more to worry about. On the other hand…”
“Please!” The Sergeant held up his hand. “Please, Mr. Carey, I must think.”
“Sure,” said George. “I was being stupid. It must be quite a shock to realize that you’re a rich man. It’ll take time for you to get adjusted.”
There was silence again. The Sergeant looked at Arthur and then they both looked at Miss Kolin sitting there impassively with her notebook. They could not say what was on their minds in front of her in Greek or German. Arthur shrugged. The Sergeant sighed and sat down by George again.
“Mr. Carey,” he said, “I cannot so immediately decide what I must do. I must have time. There are so many things.”
George nodded sagely as if he had suddenly understood the true nature of the Sergeant’s dilemma. “Ah yes. I should have realized that, other difficulties apart, this situation presents you with quite a problem in revolutionary ethics.”
“Please?”
Miss Kolin translated rapidly and with a faint sneer that did not please George in the least. But the Sergeant seemed not to notice it.
He nodded absently. “Yes, yes. That is so. I must have time to think about many things.”
George thought that it was time for slightly plainer speaking. “There’s one point I’d like to be clear about,” he said. “That is, if you don’t mind taking me into your confidence.”
“Yes? A point?”
“Are you known to the Greek authorities under your own name?”
“Now, chum-” Arthur began warningly.
But George interrupted him. “Save it, Arthur. The Sergeant’s going to have to tell me eventually anyway if I’m to be any use to him. You see that, don’t you, Sergeant?”
