He kissed her awkwardly on both cheeks and shook hands with Helmut.

Alice looked around the suite and said: “Wow, nice room.”

It was nothing by comparison with hotels in Los Angeles, but Walli did not tell her that. She had a lot to learn, but there was plenty of time.

He ordered coffee and cakes from room service. They sat around the table in the living room. “This is weird,” Walli said candidly. “You’re my kid, but we’re strangers.”

“I know your songs, though,” Alice said. “Every one. You weren’t there, but you’ve been singing to me all my life.”

“That’s kind of awesome.”

“Yeah.”

They told him the story of their escape in detail. “Looking back, it was easy,” Alice said. “But at the time I was scared to death.”

They were living temporarily in an apartment rented for them by the Franck factory accountant, Enok Andersen. “What are you going to do, long term?” Walli asked.

Helmut said: “I’m an electrical engineer, but I’d like to learn about business. Next week I’m going on the road with one of the salesmen for Franck televisions. Your father, Werner, says that’s the way to begin.”

Alice said: “In the East I was working in a pharmacy. At first I’ll probably do the same here, but one day I’d like to have my own shop.”

Walli was pleased they were thinking about work. He had nursed a secret anxiety that they might want to live on his money, which would have been bad for them. He smiled and said: “I’m glad neither of you wants to be in the music business.”

Alice said: “But the main thing we want to do is have children.”

“I’m so glad. I can’t wait to be a granddad rock star. Are you going to get married?”

“We’ve been talking about that,” she said. “We never cared about it, living in the East, but now we kind of want to. How would you feel about that?”

“Marriage itself is not a big issue for me, but I’d be kind of thrilled if you decided to do it.”

“Good. Daddy, would you sing at my wedding?”

That came from behind and knocked Walli over. It was all he could do not to cry. “Sure, honey,” he managed to say. “I’d be glad to.” To cover his emotion he turned to the television.

The screen was showing a demonstration the previous evening in Leipzig, in East Germany. Protesters carrying candles marched in silence from a church. They were peaceful, but police vans drove into the crowd, running over several people, then the cops jumped out and started arresting marchers.

Helmut said: “Those bastards.”

Walli said: “What is the demonstration about?”

“The right to travel,” said Helmut. “We’ve escaped, but we can’t go back. Alice has you, now, but she can’t visit her mother. And I’m separated from both my parents. We don’t know if we’ll ever see them again.”

Alice said angrily: “People are demonstrating because there’s no reason why we should live like this. I should be able to see my mother as well as my father. We should be allowed to go to and fro between East and West. Germany is one country. We should get rid of that Wall.”