The Gordian Knot - Bernhard Schlink [48]
The floor was unoccupied. Here, too, there was a fresh coat of paint, construction paper on the floor, ladders, and trestle tables. From a corner window he could see Union Square across tarred rooftops, and farther away the Twin Towers. The redhead probably knew that the eighth floor was empty. He might be suspicious.
Georg went down to the fourth floor and rang the bell at Townsend Enterprises. The door swung open with a soft click and he saw a large room, and on the wall an inlaid gold and bronze map of the world. The door fell shut behind him, and from a hall to the left a woman appeared in a pink blouse, a gray suit, with extravagantly pinned-up black hair and ugly pink glasses.
“Can I help you?”
“I was looking for the law firm of Webster, Katz, and Weingarten on the eighth floor. Do you know where they might have moved?”
“We’ve only been here for two weeks. I don’t know anything about previous tenants. Would you like me to check the phone book?”
“That’s very kind of you, but thanks all the same.” As he turned to leave, he saw her press the city of Lima on the map, at which the door sprang open. He also noticed to her right a spiral staircase in the corridor leading to the floor below.
He called Mr. Epp from a public phone.
“Do you know how I can find out what kind of company Townsend Enterprises is? It’s at 874 Broadway?”
“You could ask for a credit report.”
“Where?”
“I’ll do it for you. Call me back in a few hours.”
Two hours later Georg found out that Townsend Enterprises imported rare woods and precious metals, and that it had gone bankrupt six months ago and been taken over.
“Who took it over?”
“The report doesn’t say,” Mr. Epp replied.
“But where there’s a seller there has to be a buyer.”
“You’re right, but the buyer didn’t appear on the credit report.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that the buyer didn’t take out a loan to take over the company. If, for instance, you buy an apartment on Central Park South and pay cash, there won’t be a credit report on you. That’s a bad example, though, because you’d arouse suspicion if you turned up with half a million dollars in cash. Nor is it necessarily a given that the buyer didn’t borrow any money: if he has enough assets to cover the credit, then the creditor doesn’t care whether he uses the money to buy Townsend or to go to Bermuda on vacation.”
“So how can I find the buyer?”
“If he doesn’t want to be found by you or someone like you, there’s nothing you can do.”
“What about the seller?”
“You can try that. Townsend Enterprises belonged to a Mr. Townsend, who lived in Queens. Perhaps he still does. Would you like his address?”
Georg wrote it down. He went to Queens, but didn’t get very far. Mr. Townsend said he wouldn’t tell him anything. No, he wouldn’t let him in. No, he didn’t care how important it was. No, he wouldn’t talk to him, even if he paid him. Mr. Townsend kept the chain on the door.
Georg called home to Germany, the call costing him more money than he had. But in the end his parents and some friends promised to wire him seven thousand marks.
Then he called Helen. “Can we meet this evening? I have a problem I can’t solve. I’d like to discuss it with you.” It was a difficult call for him to make.
“All right,” she replied hesitantly.
30
THEY MET AGAIN AT PERTUTTI and waited for a table.
“What did you do today?” he asked.
“I spent the day writing.”
“What were you writing?”
“My thesis.”
“What part are you working on right now?”
“The Brothers Grimm had various versions of their fairy tales, and … oh, let’s forget about that. You’re not really interested, and I’m not either right now. If you aren’t ready to start on what you wanted to talk to me about, then don’t say anything. That seems to be your specialty.”
They remained silent until they were seated at the table, had ordered, and had a bottle of wine in front of them.
“It’s about that girl from France, the one I told you about.”
“The one you’re looking for? You want