Peter Rabe - A Shroud for Jesso

Jesso was kept from telling him what he’d like when Hofer rolled the breakfast up. There was everything and Baron von Lohe ate like a pig.

That was at eleven. At eleven-thirty Helmut was full. He rang the bell, waved at the mess on the table, and spoke to the butler in English. Von Lohe had manners. Or maybe he wanted Jesso to understand.

“Has the Frau Baronin had breakfast, Hofer?”

“Yes, Herr Baron.”

“You will tell her I am in the solarium,” said Helmut, and he sat back like a king awaiting his retinue. He also gave Jesso a benign look, but that dropped off fast.

“The Frau Baronin has left for the city,” said Hofer, and that answer spoiled the Baron’s fun so much that he got nasty when he told Hofer to leave.

“And send her to me when she returns,” he called after the butler. Then he turned back to Jesso.

“My wife, Mr. Jesso, keeps irregular hours at times. However,” and he patted the yellow hair where it was draped across the skull, “she is not quite used to her new standing.”

“Oh,” said Jesso. “Country girl?”

“You might say so, dear Jack. In many ways, you might say so.”

It sounded mysterious as hell, but Jesso wasn’t much interested.

“When you meet her,” said the Baron, “you will-”

“I’ve seen her,” said Jesso. “When I came in.”

“Well,” said Helmut. He wasn’t all pleased. “It deprives me of the pleasure of introducing her to you.”

“We haven’t met. I just saw her.”

The Baron smiled, leaned forward. “A remarkable woman, wouldn’t you say so?” He looked smug. “In my family we have always favored beautiful women.” He said it as if nobody else ever favored beautiful women. The Baron leaned closer. “Her name is Renette.”

Jesso looked away. Like a lousy pimp, he thought.

“Not much of a country-girl name,” he said, because he didn’t know what else to say. Jesso felt out of place with the Baron, and he started to wonder what had happened to Kator. He pulled a cigarette out of his pocket, twirled it between his fingers, made it snap.

“Ask Hofer when Kator is coming back, will you-uh-Helmut?”

But the Baron didn’t move.

“Is your business with dear Johannes so urgent you cannot enjoy the comfort of my hospitality? How would you like some liqueur?”

Liqueur, probably with a stink like a flower perfume. The close warmth of the solarium bothered him, and the Baron, with his careful hair-do, gave him a pain. And that Renette female. He had come for Kator. He had expected Kator, cold and tricky, the kind of man who made it easy for you to act without scruples and who made it impossible to forget what you came for.

“I said, dear Jack, is your business so important-”

“Yeah. He owes me five hundred bucks.”

This amused the Baron.

“Five hundred dollars!” He whinnied. “You mean you came here from out of town, broke in at an early hour, because he owes you five hundred dollars?”

“My life savings, Helmut.”

He leaned forward and put one hand on Jesso’s knee.

“Johannes can be unreasonable, dear Jack. But let me help you with the money. Really, it means little enough to me, and I’ll speak to Johannes about-“

“I’ll wait. You don’t owe me a thing.” Jesso moved his leg out of the way.

Von Lohe laughed. “Why should you be afraid to be indebted to me? And besides, my influence with Johannes is such-“

“So go influence him.” Jesso got up abruptly. He was losing his patience.

“For example,” said the Baron, and he studied his fingernails, “if you’ve had a quarrel with our Johannes-and how easy it is to quarrel with him-you would find that my efforts in your behalf could work wonders.”

“I’ll do my own promoting, thanks.”

“My position, dear Jack-” Then he stopped. They both heard the front door open.

Old Hofer was scurrying across the hall and two other servants were scrambling into position.

“Send for the Baron,” said a voice. Kator was there.

Helmut lost some of his baronial air, but he rose with a studied grace and walked toward the hall without another word.

“And send for my sister,” said the voice from the hall.

Kator had crossed the hall with that hard click of his shoes. He turned to no one and slowed down just long enough to give old Hofer a chance to swing the library doors wide. Kator went through and the doors clicked shut. When Hofer came back to the hall, von Lohe stood by, watching the servants gather up the luggage. He was fitting a Turkish cigarette into a silver holder.

“Herr Kator wishes to see the Herr Baron.”

Von Lohe placed the holder in his mouth and fished for his lighter.

“That is, immediately, Herr Baron.” Hofer bowed and disappeared into a side hall. The Baron went into the library without having lit his cigarette.

The library was a room like a hall. The floor was covered with two giant rugs and one wall held a fireplace roofed like a house. There were more Atlases. They held the fireplace open. The ceiling and walls were of walnut except where the bookshelves had been replaced by locked cabinets. The cabinets were steel. They looked odd and cold in the ornate room, and the bleak light from the French windows gave them the air of a row of cells. There was a disciplined garden on the other side of the windows, a painstaking affair of different greens and thin little walks. Kator’s desk faced the other way. His chair was empty. Von Lohe walked to the high-backed seat that faced the empty fireplace and said, “Good morning, Johannes.”

Kator’s arm waved him to step closer. “Where is Renette?”

“I don’t know, Johannes. Hofer says-”

“I know what Hofer says. Sit down. When she comes back, send her to me immediately.”

“But I don’t know when she-”

“She’s your wife, isn’t she?” Kator sounded impatient.

“She’s your sister, isn’t she?” said von Lohe, and the spite in his voice was pure.

Kator got out of his chair and walked to the window. His back was turned when he said, “Aren’t you happily married, my dear Helmut?” It sounded so casual that the Baron started to fidget. “Are you not being maintained in a style that you could otherwise no longer afford?”

Von Lohe’s voice was spiteful. “And my title, I suppose, my exclusive contacts have been of no value to you? I remind you, Johannes, that without my social position to cloak your activities-“

“Speaking of bargains,” Kator said, going to his desk, “have you finally managed that matter with Zimmer?”

“It so happens, Johannes, I’m seeing young Zimmer this afternoon, at the club. I think-“

“Don’t think, don’t make excuses, just produce! This matter has been dragging for months!”

“But Johannes, there is just so much I can do. The Zimmer family has been extremely cautious ever since the war. My good name alone cannot-“

“Remind young Zimmer,” Kator said, “that I still possess the copies of patent trades that his father’s company has engineered, and that the Americans have no knowledge of any of this. So far. Tell him so far! If I cannot place my men in Zimmer’s American subsidiaries, I will begin to make things known.”

“But they have been friends of my family for-”

“I am not concerned with your family, only with the effect of your name. Now then, I called you for other reasons. Without going into details, let me impress upon you that my trip to the States has produced complications-possibly minor, possibly dangerous. Look into the garden.” Helmut went to the window and looked. “Do you see anything?”

There was nothing except the garden.

“I have stationed six men there. Several more are in front. They are here to intercept any possible danger.”