Read Online The Stronger Sex by Hans Werner Kettenbach - Free Book Online

him.
    â€œHave you asked Klofft about it yet?”
    After a moment I said, “Not yet. No.”
    â€œThen off you go and do it,” he said. “Put the fear of God into him. It’s no use leaving him in peace. He’ll only think he can put one over on us.”
    I got to my feet, hesitated for a moment and then said, “OK. See you later, then.” I went to the door. As I glanced back, leaving the room, I saw that he had taken his glasses off and had bent his head, pressing his thumbs and forefingers to his eyes.

7
    In my room the heavy silence of a summer afternoon reigned. I hesitated for a moment, but then picked up the phone and rang Klofft’s private number. I got the answering machine. “You have reached the home of Cilly and Herbert Klofft…”
    It was her voice. I listened, and by the end of the recorded message I was so confused that after the beep I could only swallow for a moment. Then I said quickly, “Good afternoon, Frau Klofft, this is… good afternoon, Herr Klofft, this is Alexander Zabel. I must… I must speak to Herr Klofft, it’s urgent. Please let me know when I could reach him. Many thanks and… well, it would be best if I could come to your house. As soon… as soon as possible. Thanks… yes, thanks and goodbye.”
    I hung up and left my hand on the receiver. Judging by what I’d stammered out, she’d be likely to assume I was
unhinged. The heat of the sun was making itself felt in the room in spite of the air conditioning. My hand on the receiver was beginning to sweat.
    I went over to the window and opened it, because I suddenly needed to be in touch with the sounds of the outside world, maybe even a breath of wind. But the warm air that suddenly flooded in made me close the window again at once. I stood there for a moment and then sat down at my desk, picked up the folder on top of the pile that Simone had left on the left-hand side of it, and opened it.
    I stared for some time at Hochkeppel’s remark to me; Simone had taken it down and attached it to the first page of the file. When I realized that I had not taken in any of these comments, let alone understood them, I closed the file and pushed it away. I hesitated for a moment, then picked up the phone and pressed the redial key.
    Yet again I got the answering machine. I listened to her voice until the beep sounded, and then I quickly broke the connection.
    I spent a little while trying to relax. I leaned back, propped my elbows on the arms of the chair, placed my fingertips together and closed my eyes. But this sort of hocus-pocus, as practised and frequently recommended to me by Frauke, has never yet helped me. I opened my eyes again, opened Klofft’s folder and began leafing through it.
    After a short time I raised my eyes from the file. I looked at the telephone and then at my watch. It was not a decision I’d thought about, making it on the basis of clear reflection, it was more of a reflex action working independently of my mind. I put Klofft’s papers in my briefcase, left my office and looked in at the secretaries’ door. “I’ll be at Herr Klofft’s, I don’t know for how long. See you!”
    I didn’t drive down the busy main street of the old suburb; like Karl Schaffrath, I took the expressway going upstream beside the bank. The traffic wasn’t too dense, I had opened
the window, and reasonably cool air blew in over the river. I began to feel at ease. However, I also realized that that wasn’t just because of the pleasant breeze.
    I knew it was the prospect of seeing Cilly Klofft again today, on a pretext handed to me by Hochkeppel in person, and one that even sounded plausible.
    It was as if my boss had instructed me to play with fire, and at the same time absolved me of any responsibility. It was like a big win in some kind of celestial lottery, an outing to Paradise, without any conditions, without any threat