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Back The Woman on the Stairs Save as PDF
Chapters (83)
  1. Cover
  2. Also by Bernhard Schlink
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright
  5. Part One
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. Part Two
  33. 1
  34. 2
  35. 3
  36. 4
  37. 5
  38. 6
  39. 7
  40. 8
  41. 9
  42. 10
  43. 11
  44. 12
  45. 13
  46. 14
  47. 15
  48. 16
  49. 17
  50. 18
  51. 19
  52. 20
  53. 21
  54. 22
  55. 23
  56. 24
  57. 25
  58. Part Three
  59. 1
  60. 2
  61. 3
  62. 4
  63. 5
  64. 6
  65. 7
  66. 8
  67. 9
  68. 10
  69. 11
  70. 12
  71. 13
  72. 14
  73. 15
  74. 16
  75. 17
  76. 18
  77. 19
  78. 20
  79. 21
  80. 22
  81. Author’s Note
  82. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  83. What’s next onyour reading list?

Then she began to talk, at first haltingly, then with more certainty. “When we drive to Gundlach on Sunday…Karl won’t want to drive my car, he’ll want his VW bus. I can…I can give you my key, and when we’ve gone into Gundlach’s house, you sneak into the van and hide behind the wheel. When Karl has brought the picture out of the house and put it in the van, and shut the door…Everything depends on you driving off immediately. That you leave right away. If Karl manages to open one of the doors and jump in, it’s over. But if he doesn’t, I’m sure Karl will think Gundlach betrayed him. He’ll come back into the house, accuse Gundlach, and while the two of them fight, I can get away. Down below Gundlach’s house, where the garden ends, there’s a bend in the road. That’s where you wait. I’ll climb over the wall and get into the van with you.”

I tried to react with the same sangfroid with which she had laid out her plan. “Will Schwind park so I don’t have to turn around?”

She nodded. “I’ll make sure of it. Don’t worry about the gate either – it’s only closed at night.” She smiled at me. “If you drive off as soon as the door slams, and I run the minute my two men lock horns – we’ll have pulled it off.”

I didn’t like her talking about her two men, but I said nothing. I pictured the slope of the land outside Gundlach’s house, the driveway to the gate, the greenery, the parking place. Yes, I could probably sneak into the van. I did not know what would happen if things went wrong, I was crossing a line that I’d never crossed. But I was determined. “When you get into the van, where will we go?”

She ran her hand over my head again. “Where do you think?”

17

What could that mean, but that she’d be with me? I was happy. We belonged together. We would act together, succeed together, escape together. We did not even have to escape, we could stay put – what could we be accused of? I dreamed of our life together. Would we get a big apartment, or a small house? Did she garden, did she cook? What did she actually do all day? Did she like to travel, and where? Did she like reading, and what? Did she…

“I have to go.” She tore me from my dream, and stood up.

I stood up too. “Can I accompany you?”

“It’s just a short walk.” She pointed to the Museum of Arts and Crafts.

“There?”

“I work there. Design.”