‘Don’t make such a fuss!’ she says pitilessly from her room. ‘We’re getting out any minute now. We just have to get something from the apartment, then we’ll go. Our chauffeur ought to be at our front door in about thirty seconds.’

Our chauffeur? Now that sounds exciting. I haven’t heard that word for months, and it brings back fond memories of the good old days. Naturally, there was a chauffeur at Eschersbach Castle. The old von Eschersbach was extremely reluctant to get behind the wheel himself. ‘My eyes have just got too bad, and I’d pose a danger to the public at large,’ he’d tell people while he was waiting for his car to drive up to take him to a hunting party. Most people might wonder whether it was actually a good idea to go hunting with von Eschersbach in light of this limitation. But as far as I know, nothing bad ever happened; probably his claim that he needed a chauffeur was just an aristocratic way of showing off.

The doorbell rings, and Caroline walks past my box to open the door. It’s Jens!

He greets us with, ‘Good morning, Caroline. Good morning, Hercules!’

I have to admit that without a black ski mask and a gun, Jens actually looks quite nice.

He gives Caroline a kiss on both cheeks. ‘So, you two – all ready for our picnic?’

‘Sure. I just have to get the basket from upstairs. I put a few of the things in the fridge; I’ll go and pack them up.’

She hops upstairs, and I stay with Jens.

‘So, are you all right again?’ he asks. I look at him eagerly. ‘Did you like the sausage?’

I realize that, according to Mr Beck, the bit with the sausage was pure bribery, but since I’m a polite dachshund and the sausage really was delicious, I wag my tail a little. Then I start to think that where there’s one sausage, there could be another, so I pick up the pace.

‘I knew it, you good dog!’ He bends over to me and scratches me behind the ears.

At this moment, Caroline comes downstairs with a gigantic basket. ‘It’s so nice that the two of you are getting to be friends. The last time you met wasn’t exactly harmonious.’

Jens laughs. ‘I still have a bruise where Hercules snapped at me. But let’s forget it; after all, he was trying to come to the rescue. Besides, now I’m finally up to date with my tetanus injections. It turned out that I was long overdue for one. So something good came of it. And I can see that my little present arrived in good shape.’

Caroline nods. ‘Yes, it took Hercules about ten seconds to polish off the sausage. He loved it.’

Oh no! If they keep talking about gourmet sausages, I’m going to collapse. I’m so hungry I could faint. I hope it doesn’t take too much longer until I get something to eat. I do have to admit, though, that the basket Caroline brought from the apartment smells as if there’s something quite yummy in it. I can’t help starting to drool.