‘In the following days I provided myself with elegant clothes and underwear, and got ready to enjoy a life of leisure. After all my expenses I still had one thousand two hundred marks left, enough for several months. Now I began to observe my surroundings. An occasional little windfall came my way from time to time, but these pickings were too insignificant to count for anything in my eyes. I was waiting for something more serious. Needless to say, I made no attempt to contact my father. Much later I heard that he had come to an arrangement with my boss, compensating him for most of the damage, and kept the matter quiet. My father, of course, had pressing reasons of his own for wanting to avoid a police inquiry — otherwise he would never have behaved so generously. In any case, the upshot was that I was left to my own devices, free to pursue my own “inquiries” in Berlin without anyone to bother me. I found myself a young “bride” who brought something in as well. Her “aunt”, a stingy old bitch, proved adept, among her other accomplishments, at doing the “disappearing trick”. A cunning matron with respectable airs and a triple chin, fifty years old or more, she was still set on ingratiating herself with the opposite sex. I had a special place in her affections and could always go to her for help in time of need. She lived in a large apartment with a lot of rooms, in a terraced house that belonged to her. All kinds of individuals whose occupations were shrouded in mystery used to gather there, frequently playing cards and drinking until daybreak. I was not drawn to cards myself, taking no pleasure in the game and showing no talent for it. I played once, and that was enough for me, even though I didn’t lose. Nevertheless, I was a regular guest at Aunt Bertha’s. Thus four months passed without anything of significance taking place.