The Valkyrie Song

9

‘How long has the apartment been vacant?’ Ute Cranz turned and smiled at the younger woman. They had spent half an hour viewing the attic apartment and the young female estate agent had done her best to project a maturity and experience that she was clearly years from possessing. She was dressed in a mannish dark blue trouser suit. Why was it, thought Ute, that so many women in business think that to compete with men they have to dress like them?

‘It’s only just become available for rental. We haven’t even advertised it — in fact, we were surprised when you enquired about it. How did you know it was vacant?’

‘I’ve been looking for a flat in this area. I heard that the previous tenant was moving out.’

‘I see,’ said the estate agent, although she didn’t sound entirely convinced. ‘You were right to move quickly. Properties of this quality in Altona don’t tend to hang around. We’ve just completed a full renovation of an apartment building around the corner in Schillerstrasse. We had the apartments filled before we had finished the work.’

‘How much?’ Ute Cranz walked across the lounge to the window, her high heels clicking on the hardwood floor.

‘Well, this is nearly two hundred square metres. And it has a balcony with views out across to Palmaille. The monthly rent is two thousand nine hundred euros. Excluding utilities. That’s pretty standard for this area.’

Ute looked out of the window at the street below. She saw a man approach the front door of the apartment building. He had grey-white hair but had broad shoulders and moved like a younger man. He was dressed in what she would have described as an ‘English-style’ heavy tweed jacket and corded trousers.

‘Is this one of the neighbours?’ she asked the estate agent, who came across to the window and looked down.

‘Yes — yes, it is,’ she said. ‘That’s Herr Gerdes. He has the apartment above. A very quiet neighbour, as are the rest of the people in the building. A nice class of resident, as it were.’

‘I’ll take it.’ Ute turned back to the agent and smiled. ‘But I’d like to see the kitchen again…’