The Streets of Berlin
Late Friday morning Pavlina went through her short mental list again. Clothing, toothbrush, AeB document, money. Earlier on Friday morning, Nate had bought both girls small duffle bags to put their sparse belongings in. Briana and Pavlina packed their things into their new duffle bags, and they retrieved the cash and AeB papers from the hotel room safe. Pavlina said she didn't want the black high heeled shoes Nate bought her, and she offered the pair to Briana, who tried them on, and said they didn't fit. Nate packed them in his suitcase.
Nate and the girls left the room together. At the lobby, Nate went to the front desk to collect his valuables and check out, while the girls went to the hotel restaurant for lunch. Nate put his camera in his suitcase, and checked the valise with the bellhop to pick up later, but Nate carried his laptop case with him. He found Pavlina and Briana at the restaurant. Each girl had their own duffle bag under the table.
"So," Pavlina asked in German for the third time, "I do not buy my own airplane ticket?' She was wearing her light blue tie-off shirt and black tube skirt. Briana was wearing her yellow dress again.
"Right," Nate answered in German. "Herr Brandt already did that for you. He has the ticket in his office now. You fly to Prague at 20 hours tonight," Nate recited what Brandt had already told them on the phone earlier this morning.
Pavlina ordered a goulash dish. Nate ordered veal strips in a tomato sauce, and Briana ordered an angel hair pasta. They chatted idly throughout lunch.
At one fifteen they walked to the Rodingsmarkt subway station, near the Starbucks where they first got their hotel room keys from Taggart's tall, blonde assistant. It was two blocks further than the Stadthausbrucke stop, next to the hotel, but Rodingsmarkt was on a more direct subway line. It was another warm July afternoon. They took the subway eastbound to the Uhlandstrasse station, and then walked two blocks to Thomas Brandt's office. They arrived just before two o'clock.
His office was nestled on the second floor of an old stone building. Several lawyers shared a common waiting room with a single receptionist. Nate announced himself to the receptionist, who checked a log of expected visitors, and then instructed them to enter office number B3.
The office was tiny. Thomas Brandt introduced himself as he firmly shook hands with Nate and both girls. He was tall, thin – almost gaunt, with receding straight grey hair and round wire-rim glasses. He wore a perfectly clean and pressed dark grey business suit and tie that looked like it was 30 years old. Nate guessed Brandt was in his early sixties.
The tiny office had room for only two small padded steel chairs, so Nate stood behind the chairs while Briana and Pavlina each took a seat. Thomas, seated in a simple office chair on the other side of the small desk, was unapologetic for the meagre accommodations. Nate guessed many of his clients could not afford the luxuries of leather furniture in a brightly lit corner office. Everything about the office screamed neatness and efficiency.
Thomas had prepared the final papers for Pavlina to sign. He apologized that they were in German – they were not allowed to be in any other language. Pavlina reviewed the first document, which seemed surprisingly clear and plain. It was a commitment and declaration to engage Thomas Brandt as her legal representative in the disposition of her Ausländer equitiable Behandlung status in the city state of Hamburg, Germany. The fee for an uncomplicated disposition was a flat rate of 1,200 euros, plus expenses.
She signed the contract in duplicate copies. Brandt put one signed copy in a drawer for later filing, and he folded the other copy into an envelope, which he handed to Pavlina. He then pulled out a file folder, and took the next fifteen minutes to walk Pavlina through the four documents that he would file with the Hamburg police on her behalf. She signed in no fewer than 17 places. Pavlina was beginning to understand the value of hiring someone like Brandt. Instead of just showing up with a wad of cash and hoping for the best, as most people do, Pavlina would be represented by experienced counsel who would present a brick of legal documents compelling the police to release Pavlina's passport and let her go on her way.
With Pavlina's documents out of the way, Brandt then turned his attention to Briana. He presented her with the same engagement contract, except hers was a minimum fee of 2,000 euros for the disposition of an AeB with conditions attached. The fee was unconditional, it could go higher, and would be collected even if the AeB case was not successfully resolved.
Briana signed the contract in two copies, and again Brandt filed one and gave the other to her in an envelope. There were no other papers for Briana to sign, as Thomas would not draft the disposition documents until he knew the status of the London loan. He asked how the loan repayment was going, and Briana admitted she had not done anything yet. As it was Friday afternoon, everyone realized little progress could be made before Monday morning.
Next, Brandt had a document for Nate to sign, agreeing he would pay for Briana's and Pavlina's fees and expenses. Nate signed it in duplicate, and Brandt filed on for his own records, and handed the other signed copy to Nate. He filed it in his laptop case.
Thomas returned to Pavlina. "Do you have the money for the AeB payment?" Pavlina said she did, and fished out the wad of 100 euro bills from a zipped pocket in her duffle bag. Thomas asked her to count it out in front of him, which she did, and came to exactly 5,000 euros. Thomas told her to keep it. He explained he was not permitted to handle the money – she had to hand it to the police herself.
With all the paperwork complete, Thomas packed Pavlina's case files in his lawyer's attaché case, and Pavlina stuffed the money back into her duffle bag and zipped close the pocket. They all stood in his tiny office. Thomas ushered Pavlina, Briana, and Nate out the door, and he locked it behind him before shepherding them through the common reception area, and down the stairs to the street level. Briana and Pavlina each carried their duffle bags, Nate carried his laptop satchel, and Thomas carried his leather bound attorney case. They followed Thomas across the street to an indoor parking lot street entrance. "Here we say goodbye," Thomas said to Nate and Briana. "I will take Fraulein Kozak to the police station," Brandt explained, "and then see that she gets on the train to the airport."
Nate pulled out his wallet, and handed Pavlina 200 euros. "You're going to need some spending money," he offered.
