CH 19

The call sounded a little farther away than the reporters’. Annette, who had kept her head down the whole time, involuntarily looked to the side.

“I’m ……! I’m …… of …….”

The woman’s voice was again buried in the commotion and the sound of rain. The woman, who appeared to be a civilian and not a reporter, looked very nervous and desperate.

The woman pushed her way through the reporters, shouting what? What did she say? The reporters with cameras looked at her in surprise.

The buzz slowly subsided. Everyone presented was looking at the woman. The woman opened her mouth, staring straight at Annette.

“I am David Buckel’s sister!”

Until that moment, Annette had no idea who David Buckel was. It was the first time she had heard the name.

“I have something to say to madam Valdemar!”

Annette’s eyes widened slightly.

You want to speak to me? Why?

There were countless words of fuss over Annette. But it was a multitude of situations against her alone, and only reporters were willing to talk to Annette one-on-one.

The reporters began to buzz at the woman’s words. A similar interest floated on each person. Cameras and notebooks turned toward the woman.

“David Buckel? Are you the sister of Mr. Buckel who shot madam Valdemar?”

“Did your brother do it on his own will? On what business did you come to see the madam?”

“Have you heard  anything from Mr. David Buckel?”

“I’m Rose Schwartz from Graphic, Inc! Can I interview you separately?”

“No!”

The woman’s shrill cry made the surroundings quiet for an instant. She did not look at the reporters, but only at Annette from beginning to end.

For some reason, her clear and emotionless eyes made her heart skip a beat. The woman’s lips slowly opened.

“I would like to see the madam in person. I had no choice but to come because I couldn’t reach you, and I don’t want to do any kind of interview with these people.”

“Quickly, clear the area.”

Heiner murmured overhead to his attendants. His voice was cold as usual, but somewhat angry.

“Well then, I’ll look forward to hearing from you, madam.”

The woman’s last words were barely audible, drowned out by the reporters’ questions. Heiner pulled Annette, who was standing in a daze, to his chest.

“Get on quickly.”

“I ……”

“Hurry.”

A decisive voice fell.

Annette wanted to get a closer look at the woman’s face, but she had to walk, swept away by the force that embraced her shoulders.

“Madam Valdemar, just one reply….”

“You know why…………”

All the sounds drifted away from her ears and just buzzed away like noise. Annette breathed in the familiar scent of Heiner.

Her head was dizzy, but only the desperate woman’s face was oddly clear on her retinas.

‘Where did I see that woman…..?’

Annette thought inadvertently, and recognized it after a few moments. She quickly turned her head and looked at the woman. Her vision repeatedly blurred and became clearer.

She had seen that woman somewhere before. But she couldn’t remember anything other than that vague certainty. Was she a commoner? When had she seen her? Where?

Did she hold a grudge against her then? What the hell did she do to her? If she didn’t remember as much, she wouldn’t have known her. If she saw her a few times….

‘Is my memory accurate to begin with?’

His tightly closed lips quivered slightly.

Lately, Annette had been living with forgetfulness. She was constantly making mistakes, unable to remember a single trivial detail, while in the past she could remember hundreds of pages of sheet music.

At this point, Annette began to doubt even her own deja vu about women.

While her thoughts were confused, they arrived at the waiting car before she knew it. The attendant opened the car door. Until then, Annette and the woman had not taken their eyes off each other.

Heiner pushed her into the car. He then got in the seat next to her and her view was blocked. With a snap, the car door slammed shut.

Reporters clung to the windows. The car rolled onto the road. The twinkling flashing lights disappeared behind them.

“…… who is she?”

“She’s the sister of David Buckel, the man who was arrested.”

“That’s not what I’m asking.”

“Then?”

“She wanted to tell me something…”

Annette’s words became slurred. She tried to explain to him what she was not sure of. She felt like he would only treat her like an idiot.

“No.”

A heavy gaze landed on the back of Annette’s head as she lowered her head. Heiner asked in a seemingly generous voice.

“What is it that you want to know?”

“Why…”

She trailed off.

“Why did she come to see me?”

Annette looked at her hands on her lap and around in the air and continued to speak in a daze.

“What is her reason for wanting to meet with me personally? She didn’t even tell the reporters………….”

“It must be because she wanted to help her brother. Don’t think too much about it.”

“It just didn’t seem to be for that reason. And what did she mean she couldn’t reach me…?”

Annette looked back at Heiner, as if to pursue the matter.

“You know something, don’t you?”

“…she’s sent you a few letters.”

He was surprisingly straightforward and agreeable.

“But why didn’t you tell me?”

“I decided it was not necessary to give you, the victim and patient, the letters from the criminal’s sister.”

“I’ll be the judge of that, Heiner.”

Annette did not believe his excuse. There must be some other reason, she thought. Because there was no way he would take care of her situation like that in the first place.

“Are there any other letters that haven’t gotten through to me like this before?”

Heiner did not answer. From the silence, Annette read the affirmation.

She wasn’t particularly angry or annoyed. She just felt as if something deep in her chest was worn out. Annette spoke quietly, fiddling with the strap of her handbag.

“I want to meet her.”

“Aren’t you going to ask more about the letters?”

“No, it has already passed.”

“You mean you don’t care anymore if I continue to do so in the future?”

For an instant, Annette’s hands stopped. She looked at him with puzzlement. His words were very strange.

‘In the future…..?’

Did Heiner assume that they have a future? What exactly did he think the future was? Was he really willing to risk everything and look to the future?

She found it somewhat comical.

“I wondered if the letters had her number or address on it. If not, please look it up. In place of stolen letters.”

“Madam, there’s no reason to meet her at all.”

“Nor is there any reason to ask your permission.”

Due to her originally weak tone, her words did not sound resolute at all. At first glance, it sounded like an appeal.

However, Heiner nodded without further objection, although he still looked dissatisfied.

“I’ll take care of it. But with personal protection.”

She had expected that much, and Annette accepted. For reasons unknown, Heiner’s was not as overbearing as before.

Annette nodded her head as if that were the answer. Fallen leaves swept past the car window. The trees, most of their leaves withered, had somehow become emaciated.

***

The woman’s name was Catherine Grott.

Catherine was married for less than six months and lived with her husband in a fruit business on Western Road 23rd Street.

Even after hearing her name and address, Annette could not recall who she was. It was a name she had never heard of before, and there was no contact at all with the place of her address.

Holding the note in one hand, Annette slowly turned the dial on the telephone switchboard. On the note was a phone number.

She dialed the numbers and heard a ringtone. Annette nervously held the phone answer swallowed. After a long ring, the call was connected.

[Yes, this is Brunner Grott.]

“Are you Catherine’s husband?”

[Yes, who is it?]

For some reason, she was at a loss for words at the question. Who was she? Annette, who had been silent for a moment, opened her mouth hesitantly.

“Um, to Mrs. Grott…Would you please tell her my message? Tell her to come to my house tomorrow or the day after that, and that I had given her permission to come in and out, so just tell the people at the front gate her name, they’ll know…”

There was a strange tension behind the period. The other party was silent for a while, probably guessing her identity.

Since he was her husband, he couldn’t have known about the problem of his wife’s brother.

Annette was nervous, not knowing what the woman had told her husband.

Eventually, a clerical answer came back.

[……I understand. I will pass this on to Catherine.]

“Thank you.”

Annette waited for the other person to hang up first, but the call remained unbroken, only silence. Unable to bear it, she put down the receiver first.

Silence fell with a clank. After that, Annette stood there for a long while, unable to take her hand off the receiver.

In fact, she didn’t need to find Catherine first. It was unlikely that she liked Annette, and as Heiner said, it was highly unlikely that her purpose was good.

What did that mean, why did she do it, what feelings did she have for her, what did she want to say, and what she would say back.

Still, strangely enough, Annette felt compelled to listen to her.

Perhaps, for the first and last time, it was an opportunity to face the past.

Even if it hurt her….