The Kindly Ones

They took me to the Polizeirevier on Derfflingerstrasse, at the corner of the Kurfürstenstrasse; there, a half-asleep policeman took my ID papers, asked me some questions, and wrote the answers down on a form; then they told me to go sit on a bench. Two hours later they took me across the way, to the Abschnittkommando of the Tiergarten, the neighborhood’s main police station. They led me into a room where a man who was badly shaved but dressed in a meticulously ironed suit sat hunched behind a table. He was from the Kripo. “You’re in for it, young man. A man fired on a police officer and was killed. Who was he? Did you know him? They saw you on the bridge with him. What were you doing there?” Sitting on the bench, I had had time to reflect, and I stuck to a simple story: A doctoral student, I liked taking walks, at night, to meditate on my thesis; I had left home, in Prenzlauer Berg, to stroll along Unter den Linden then through the Tiergarten, I wanted to reach the S-Bahn to return home; I was crossing the bridge and this man had accosted me, he said something I couldn’t catch, his strange behavior had frightened me, I thought he was threatening me and had continued on my way, then I had met the Schupos, and that was all. He asked the same question as the policemen: “That area is a well-known meeting place. Are you sure he wasn’t your boyfriend? A lovers’ quarrel? The Schupos confirmed you spoke with him.” I denied this and repeated my story: doctoral student, etc. That lasted for a while: he asked his questions in a brutal, hard tone; several times he tried to provoke me, but I didn’t let myself be intimidated, I knew that the best thing was to stay calm. I began to be bothered by a strong need and finally asked to go to the bathroom. He sniggered: “No. Afterward,” and continued. Finally he waved the air with his hand. “Okay, Mr. Lawyer. Go sit in the hallway. We’ll continue later on.” I left the office and sat down in the entryway. Aside from the two Schupos and a drunkard asleep on a bench, I was alone. A bulb flickered now and then. Everything was clean, neat, quiet. I waited.