It was late afternoon when Rummy and Doris called from the gate that separates Heliopolis from the real world. Helen and Sandy slipped on shorts and went down to meet them. Helen spoke to the guard and waved the car inside as the barrier rose. She went to the driver´s window to speak to Rummy, who stared fixedly ahead.
“Oh, hell, Rummy, don´t be silly. They´re only tits.”
“I know,” he said, “but they´re yours.”
Helen sighed. “Anyway, thanks so much for coming so soon.” She looked across at Doris. “And you too. I really need you both.” She turned to Sandy.
“This is Sandy duVin, a friend. He´ll be working with us. Can we get in? I´ll show you where to park.”
They climbed into the back seat and Helen directed Rummy to a parking space near her apartment.
When they got out Doris said, “Helen, I already like this place. I see all kinds of naked people and yet it feels just like home. Well, I mean except for all the skin.”
They walked upstairs to the apartment, and as soon as they had put their cases inside, Doris pulled off her jacket and blouse, then stripped off the rest of her clothes. Rummy began to look anxious again.
Helen took Doris´s things and hung them on the garderobe. “Just wear whatever you feel like, Doris. Well, I guess I don´t need to tell you. And Rummy,” she looked at him, “you can do whatever you like. It makes no difference. Now, come and sit down on the balcony.”
Sandy had busied himself getting water and juice organized and set out on the table, and they sat down to confer. The orange cat inspected everyone and settled for grudging acceptance.
“What the hell is all this, Helen?” Rummy asked immediately they were settled. Helen handed him Lieber´s letter and its attachment. Both he and Doris read it all, examined the photocopy.
Doris finished first. She looked up at Helen. “Rummy told me you said your husband had committed suicide. Does this mean he didn´t?”
“I think it does.”
“And what does the lawyer say?”
“He called this afternoon and said the Kripo – sorry – the criminal police are going to re-open the case.”
“And what´s this got to do with Rummy?”
Rummy spoke up. “Aside from the fact we´re partners, Helen and I, Schellen´s project manager asked me if Theo Brechstein was going to be labor consultant on this job. That put the wind up both of us, and now I know why.”
“Okay, what now?” Doris asked.
“Lieber, my lawyer, said the KP would be sending someone to talk to me. I expect him tomorrow. Right now, we need to figure out what our position is for the next few days.
“I spent part of this afternoon, Rummy, getting the status reports and estimates finished and sent off. As I guess you know, we´re well ahead of schedule, enough to qualify us for a completion bonus if we can stay ahead through the cold weather. I also wrote up a memo for us outlining the odd things that have happened since we started this job.”
“You mean Dumont´s approaching me, and Schellen´s threats,” Rummy said.
“Yes, and the Bagger attack. Sandy and I have started going over the contact logs the contractors gave us. There are a lot of them, and you and Doris can help us with what´s left tomorrow. Tell them what we´ve found so far, Sandy.”
“Yeah, well first, Helen, tell me about this completion bonus. How much is it?”
Helen was momentarily confused, then said, “Well, it depends on how early we finish. Figure about €10,000 a day. I think we´ll be finished at least a week early, so, we´re only talking €50 - 70,000.”
“That´s not pocket change, Helen.” Sandy noted. Turning to Rummy, he went on, “Well, about the logs. It looks like there´s a guy – Helen calls him the Man from Bau…”
Rummy put in, for Doris´s sake, “IG Bau is the German construction union, you know that. And, they send people around to see if you´ve got people working the job who aren´t union, or who´re from outside the EU. That´s the Man from Bau.” Doris nodded understanding.
“Anyway,” Sandy resumed, “the Man from Bau seems to come around a hell of a lot. Every three days or so, he – and it´s always the same guy – visits every contractor. We´ve only looked at about a quarter of the logs, but there does seem to be a pattern.”
“What´s his name?” Rummy asked.
“Ritter. Sebastian Ritter.”
“Haven´t heard of him. I´ll make some calls.”
“Good, Rummy,” Helen said. “But let´s get organized first. I´ve rented an apartment for you and Doris just upstairs from here, I´ll show you when we´re done. You´ll find everything you need there. We´ll have drinks here when you´re settled and then we´ll go out for dinner.”
Rummy wasn´t happy. “But we´ve got stuff to do. I´ve got calls…”
Helen cut him off. “Rummy, yes, there´s a lot to do, but we can´t do it all at once, and nothing we´re doing is going to bring Theo back to life. Sandy´s made me realize that what we´re doing here is protecting ourselves and starting an investigation, and for now that´s normal business hours. When we´re done here, I´ll show you your place, and you can make calls until it´s time for dinner, if you want – and if Doris lets you. It´s pretty much after hours, already. None of this is going to get settled or solved in the next twenty minutes.”
“Right,” Doris said. “Cool off, Rummy, and let´s scheme.”
Nodding assent, Rummy sat down on the lounge.
“Okay,” Helen said, “Sandy, can you help us tomorrow?”
“Yes. Astrid and Jean can watch the store. You can have me unless something comes up there.”
Doris looked interested. “Sandy, don´t forget to tell me about that store over dinner.”
Helen went on, “Well, tomorrow morning, the first thing is to finish combing those contact logs. Doris, you and Sandy and I can work on that. I want Rummy to troll his contacts and see what he can find out. I don´t want anyone to say anything about Theo or the telephone message. What we´re doing is checking out whether and why someone from Bau is keeping an eye on us. Nothing else.”
“Right.” A ragged chorus of assent and understanding.
“Good. Now, let´s get you two settled.” Helen grabbed Doris´s clothes from the garderobe and hustled the couple out the door. “Sandy, call the restaurant at the Port and get us a table, will you?” She grinned at him as he reached for the phone. “Rummy´ll never be able to eat without his clothes on.”