70
II.
Why this curious constraint on my part.
Answer.
Answer immediately.
PARTISAN REVIEW
The police in our precinct have moved into their new quarters with a
great deal of fanfare. My brother's photograph is in all the papers. All
along he had been convinced that his design for the police station
would be selected out of the nineteen or twenty that had been submit–
ted. There had been a good many insinuations that he had won only
because he also happened to be the son-in-law of the police chief of
Wurtenburg. Perhaps it did infl uence the jury's unanimous decision. I
still recall urging him to abstain from participating for that very
reason.
If
you win, they' ll say it is because of your father-in-l aw. He
called me naive. Christmas, he told me gleefully, he had sent the
policemen at the old station a case of Piper H eitzig. Prost. Of course
the newspapers did not neglect to state that the architect Hargenau was
the brother of Ulrich Hargenau, the author who had admitted to being
a political activist in the Einzig Gruppe. I suppose I could sue, but it
would simply focus more attention on me. Attention is the last thing I
need. Let Helmut get the attention.
12.
My brother takes me on a tour of the new police station. Why had I
agreed to come? Immaculate corridors, large well lit offices with plate
glass windows , white formica-topped desks, everything gleaming and
new, and everyone, in and out of uniform, smiling broadly at us. It's
like a circus. Everyone beaming their approval of my brother who is,
let me not forget to add, the son-in-law of the chief of police. Helmut
introduces me with a special flourish to everyone he meets. He keeps
saying: This is my radical brother. Ulrich Hargenau, the writer. You
may have read some of his work. To my surprise quite a number of
policemen say yes. They all smile at each other as if sharing a huge
joke. Any questions? my brother asks me in front of a group of senior
police officers, all with glasses of champagne in their hands, all a bit
red in their faces and a slight bit unsteady on their feet.
Yes. Is the young American woman on the floor above mine a
radical?
I can easily find out for you , says the chief of police, smiling,
feeling proud of the Hargenaus. Old, old family with a castle some–
where in East Germany. Pity that they decided to drop the von.
