He waited again. One side of the street was a department store whose window offered woolens, horn buttons, felt hats, the paraphernalia of Bavarian identity. On the other side, people headed to and from a garage. Cars rolled up and down the ramps, BMWs and Mercedeses bumper to bumper, steel bees in a giant beehive.

An authoritative voice came on the other end of the line and asked in Russian, “This is Schiller. Can I help?”

“I hope so. Have you ever been to the consulate?” Arkady asked.

“No, I regret …” By the sound of it, it wasn’t a bottomless regret.

“We’re fairly new here, as you know.”

“Yes.” A dry tone.

“We have some confusion at the consulate,” Arkady said.

The answer mixed caution and amusement. “How so?”

“It may just be a misunderstanding or something lost in the translation.”

“Yes?”

“We were visited by a certain firm that wants to engage in a joint venture in the Soviet Union. Of course that’s good; that’s what the consulate is here for. What is especially promising is that the firm claims it can produce financing in hard currency.”

“Deutsche marks?”

“Quite a large sum of Deutsche marks. I was hoping you could give us some assurance that these funds are, in fact, available.”

A deep breath at the other end suggested the effort necessary to explain finances to small children. “The firm may have a sufficient corporate budget, private funds, a loan from a bank or other institutions. There are many combinations, but Bayern-Franconia can only give you information if it is a partner in the venture. My advice is that you should study their credentials.”

“Precisely what I was getting at. They led us to believe—or we misunderstood them to say—that their firm was associated with Bayern-Franconia, and that all the funding would come from you.”

A new gravity issued from the other end. “What is the name of this company?”

“TransKom Services, It’s engaged in recreational and personnel services—”

“This bank has no subsidiaries involved in the Soviet Union.”

Arkady said, “I was afraid not. But the bank might have committed itself to such financing?”

“Unfortunately Bayern-Franconia does not believe the economic situation in the Soviet Union is stable enough to recommend investment at this time.”

“Strange. He used the name of Bayern-Franconia freely at the consulate,” Arkady said.

“Which is something we take seriously at Bayern-Franconia. Just who am I talking to?”

“Artur Federov. We would like to know, today if possible, whether the bank stands behind TransKom or not.”

“I can reach you at the consulate?”

Arkady paused a suitable length of time to check a schedule. “I’ll be out most of the day. I have a Belorussian chorus to meet at the airport, then Ukrainian artists, lunch with Bavarian film studios, then some dancers.”

“You do sound busy.”