We shout in chorus: ‘Beat it!’ and we run off without another glance at the man. As fast as we can, we scoot out of the park, past Willi, who’s sitting on his usual park bench and watching us in amazement.

When we get to our house, I’m drenched in sweat. Not from all the running, but from fear. Put to sleep. What a horrible, horrible thing to say! We slip through the garden gate and lie down in the shade of the big tree. We’re too exhausted to talk at first, but then I get up again.

‘I don’t know, Mr Beck. I guess my plan wasn’t so great after all. Or at least not suitable for hunting for a man the way I was doing it.’

Beck’s head sways back and forth. ‘Don’t give up so fast. The basic idea is certainly right. Maybe we just have to narrow down our selection a little more. Not every man who sits in the park when the weather is nice is automatically a good candidate.’

‘But that was our exact approach – and by the way, it was your idea. I just say scattergun.’

‘So what? What do I care about the junk I said yesterday? What’s wrong with me learning as I go? I think the secret of our success will lie in a selective preliminary screening. And then we strike!’

‘I don’t know,’ I grumble, ‘how would that preliminary screening work?’

Beck thinks it over for a second.‘We have to see the men through Caroline’s eyes.’

‘That’s great; how would we accomplish that?’

Instead of answering, Beck jumps up. ‘Come on!’ he shouts to me over his shoulder. ‘I’ve just had a brainwave.’

chapter thirteen

I feel a bit silly jumping up and down in front of Caroline with my lead in my mouth, because I actually hate walking attached to a lead. But if Beck’s theory is correct, the suitable men in the park are easier to identify if we have Caroline with us. So the plan is to take a walk with her and see who captures her attention. And then…well, what happens then is still a bit unclear. I can hardly pull off the previous act with Caroline standing right next to me. But I’ll come up with something, and besides, we’ll be tailed by Mr Beck, who claims he’ll size up the situation. It would be nice, of course, if Caroline finally got it through her head that I want to take a walk with her.

I jump up again as high as I can, and scratch her jeans with my front paws. She looks down and laughs.

‘Hercules, don’t get so wild! I know what you want, but let me just finish what I’m doing here. Then we’ll go out, I promise!’

She takes one of those small wooden plates from her table and wedges it between the base and the strings of a violin. Sheesh! Work always comes first around here, even though my issue is far more important. I growl a little.