telephone.
When he returned he said, “A couple of minutes.”
He drank his coffee in silence. Then the telephone in the corner of the café began ringing. The waiter answered it and handed the receiver to Hass.
“My secretary found two seats on a midnight flight. This way we will have time for our appointment.”
He drove us to the hotel and waited outside until we packed. Mona asked me to put on a white shirt.
CHAPTER 21
It took one and a half hours to drive to Bern. We were silent most of the way, as if each one of us were trying to settle some overworked valve in our head. When we entered Bern, Hass leaned slightly toward Mona and in a near whisper said, “Like I told you, the minister is busy, but we will meet his aide and my friend who is a member of parliament.” Then he added as an afterthought: “It’s a spectacular building.”
He parked in a side street, and we walked. When the large dark-stone building was in view, he pointed enthusiastically to it and said, “See what I mean?”
We looked up at the arches stacked maybe three or four stories high. Two square towers stood on either side, each with a small red flag on top. It did not seem spectacular at all but silly and overbearing, like a square-jawed bodyguard.I moved closer to Mona, relieved that she did not respond to his question.
A woman holding a purple spiral-bound notebook with brightly colored stickers on it led us through a long, polished hallway and up a grand staircase that was as wide as a car. Every so often she would look back to make sure we were still behind her. Eventually the wood-paneled corridors turned white, fluorescent lights replaced the chandeliers. We arrived at a room that looked like a classroom. It even had a blackboard on one wall. The three of us sat on one side of the long white table that stood in the middle. In the center of the table there was a jug full of water but with only two empty glasses beside it. I was thirsty but did not pour myself a glass. After a few minutes the same woman with the childish notebook walked in, followed by a man dressed in a dark-blue suit and bright red tie. He greeted Hass warmly while the woman watched and smiled.
“We were at university together,” Hass explained.
“I am very sorry to hear what happened,” he told Mona.
He shook my hand but without looking in my eyes.
He and the woman sat opposite us, with an empty chair between them.
“The minister’s aide is on her way,” the man said.
“Very kind of you to see us at such short notice,” Mona said.
“We want to do everything we can,” he said.
Then a tall woman walked in, shook the hand of each one of us and quickly took her seat in the middle. She looked atthe woman beside her, who opened her notebook and held her pen at the top of an empty page.
“The minister apologizes. He wanted to see you personally as soon as he heard. But, as you might appreciate, he is very busy.”
“Of course,” Mona said softly, which surprised me.
“We have read the police report and the statement you gave to Monsieur Durand, so I won’t trouble you with repeating the story, but, like you, we are very concerned indeed.”
She had slim, elongated features. I was somehow sure she had her father’s face. Her arms were nearly as white as the table and completely hairless. The color altered a little at the hands: there was a hint of green to the heels of her palms, the knuckles were pink, but the fingertips were unhappily red, as if she spent a great deal of time washing dishes.
“My husband is a regular visitor to your country,” Mona said. “If something has happened to him it will be a scandal.”
None of the faces opposite reacted to this.
“You are meant to protect your visitors.”
“Like I said, we are very concerned,” the minister’s aide repeated. “The border police, as well as the intelligence services, have been notified.”
The water jug had tiny silver balls of air clinging to its sides. I wondered
When he returned he said, “A couple of minutes.”
He drank his coffee in silence. Then the telephone in the corner of the café began ringing. The waiter answered it and handed the receiver to Hass.
“My secretary found two seats on a midnight flight. This way we will have time for our appointment.”
He drove us to the hotel and waited outside until we packed. Mona asked me to put on a white shirt.
CHAPTER 21
It took one and a half hours to drive to Bern. We were silent most of the way, as if each one of us were trying to settle some overworked valve in our head. When we entered Bern, Hass leaned slightly toward Mona and in a near whisper said, “Like I told you, the minister is busy, but we will meet his aide and my friend who is a member of parliament.” Then he added as an afterthought: “It’s a spectacular building.”
He parked in a side street, and we walked. When the large dark-stone building was in view, he pointed enthusiastically to it and said, “See what I mean?”
We looked up at the arches stacked maybe three or four stories high. Two square towers stood on either side, each with a small red flag on top. It did not seem spectacular at all but silly and overbearing, like a square-jawed bodyguard.I moved closer to Mona, relieved that she did not respond to his question.
A woman holding a purple spiral-bound notebook with brightly colored stickers on it led us through a long, polished hallway and up a grand staircase that was as wide as a car. Every so often she would look back to make sure we were still behind her. Eventually the wood-paneled corridors turned white, fluorescent lights replaced the chandeliers. We arrived at a room that looked like a classroom. It even had a blackboard on one wall. The three of us sat on one side of the long white table that stood in the middle. In the center of the table there was a jug full of water but with only two empty glasses beside it. I was thirsty but did not pour myself a glass. After a few minutes the same woman with the childish notebook walked in, followed by a man dressed in a dark-blue suit and bright red tie. He greeted Hass warmly while the woman watched and smiled.
“We were at university together,” Hass explained.
“I am very sorry to hear what happened,” he told Mona.
He shook my hand but without looking in my eyes.
He and the woman sat opposite us, with an empty chair between them.
“The minister’s aide is on her way,” the man said.
“Very kind of you to see us at such short notice,” Mona said.
“We want to do everything we can,” he said.
Then a tall woman walked in, shook the hand of each one of us and quickly took her seat in the middle. She looked atthe woman beside her, who opened her notebook and held her pen at the top of an empty page.
“The minister apologizes. He wanted to see you personally as soon as he heard. But, as you might appreciate, he is very busy.”
“Of course,” Mona said softly, which surprised me.
“We have read the police report and the statement you gave to Monsieur Durand, so I won’t trouble you with repeating the story, but, like you, we are very concerned indeed.”
She had slim, elongated features. I was somehow sure she had her father’s face. Her arms were nearly as white as the table and completely hairless. The color altered a little at the hands: there was a hint of green to the heels of her palms, the knuckles were pink, but the fingertips were unhappily red, as if she spent a great deal of time washing dishes.
“My husband is a regular visitor to your country,” Mona said. “If something has happened to him it will be a scandal.”
None of the faces opposite reacted to this.
“You are meant to protect your visitors.”
“Like I said, we are very concerned,” the minister’s aide repeated. “The border police, as well as the intelligence services, have been notified.”
The water jug had tiny silver balls of air clinging to its sides. I wondered
Similar Books
