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, wenn er sie alle von Experten untersuchen lassen wurde?” “Right. Maybe he’ll believe you. And then again,” she paused, “maybe he won’t.” She waited for a reaction, and then took a chance. “I wonder what would happen if he chose to have them all examined by experts?”
When Keppelmann wouldn’t meet her eyes, Teren knew she was right. At least some of the items Keppelmann had shipped to Treville had indeed been fakes.
“Sie haben genau drei?ig Sekunden, Herr Keppelmann.” “You have thirty seconds, Mr. Keppelmann.”
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.
Keppelmann, his eye still twitching, brought out a book from his desk drawer. He flipped through it. Looking even more flustered, he closed it.
“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. “Dann sollten wir uns wohl nach unten begeben und es finden, oder?” Teren stood. “Then perhaps we should go find it, shouldn’t we?”
Keppelmann nodded, and stood. He led the way from the office, trying to keep one eye on Teren, which wasn’t easy to do since she was behind him. Teren stifled her laughter when he nearly tripped for the third time.
They went down a back staircase, and through another storage area. Keppelmann stopped at another desk, and looked through the drawers. When he couldn’t find what he was looking for, he began stuttering, and searching through stacks of papers, his eyes wide. Finally, Teren had had enough.
She put a hand on his shoulder, and he jumped, giving a short cry. She mentally rolled her eyes.
“Was ist los, Herr Keppelmann?” “What’s the problem, Mr. Keppelmann?”
“Es tut mir leid, Frau Fleming, aber ich kann das Buch mit den Lieferanten nicht finden.” He managed to get the whole sentence out without stuttering. “I’m sorry, Ms. Fleming, I seem to be having trouble locating the book with our suppliers names.” He managed to get the whole sentence out without stuttering.
“Gibt es hier noch jemanden, der es haben konnte?” “Is there anyone else who would have it?”
Keppelmann stopped for a moment, then nodded. “Rolf Wudin.” Keppelmann stopped for a moment, then nodded.“Rolf Wudin.”
“Dann finden wir diesen Herrn Wudin wohl besser.” “Then perhaps we should find Mr. Wudin.”
“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 Keppelmann, this time through a curtain, and into the first floor antique shop. She raised her eyebrow at the sight of Alex and an older gentleman with their heads bent over a ledger.
“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.” Keppelmann opened the book, then noticed that the ledger was facing Alex, and he glared at Rolf. “Wozu braucht sie das?” “No.“Keppelmann opened the book, then noticed that the ledger was facing Alex, and he glared at Rolf. “What is she doing with that?”
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 Keppelmann, dies ist meine Mitarbeiterin, Ms. Reed. Sagen Sie doch guten Tag.” “Mr. Keppelmann, this is my partner, Ms. Reed. Say hello.”
Keppelmann glanced at Teren, then looked back at Alex “Guten Tag.”
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.”
Keppelmann looked up at Teren apologetically. “Und ich spreche kein Englisch.” Keppelmann looked up at Teren apologetically. “I’m afraid I don’t speak English.”
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. Keppelmann. We’re going in back now, so that he can write down a name and address for me.”
“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 Keppelmann’s shoulder and guided him back through the curtain. Alex watched them go with a smile on her lips.
“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 grinned. “Trouble.”
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 connection, and burst into laughter. Rolf was chuckling so hard he had to take his glasses off and wipe his eyes.
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 Keppelmann while she drove to the restaurant. Alex explained what she had discovered from Rolf Wudin.
“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 Keppelmann signed the voucher accepting the goods. He also appraised several of the items from the lot, including several sabers with Nazi insignias.”
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.”