Frauleinstein

Chapter XIII: Meanwhile, Back in Bistritz... Part III

Steve looked around the courthouse lobby, biting his nails nervously and without concern for his manicure.

After their confrontation in the laboratory, Friedrich had driven them all into town; he and Dieter in the front of the luxurious sedan with Steve and Dr. Pretorius in the back. And although they were supposedly in some great hurry, their first stop had been two hours at a beauty parlour. Grigore Albescu, Europe's foremost cosmetics expert had been there as promised, and among other things demonstrated how concealer could be used to cover Steve's forehead scar. Steve still didn't get all the big deal about hair and makeup, but he had to admit his painted nails looked kind of cool.

Now they were standing in the lobby of the Bistritz courthouse, although Steve was not entirely clear on their purpose there.

"Dr. Pretorius," said a tall, older man as he approached the group from across the lobby. Everyone was tall now, Steve thought to himself with regret. "And you must be Miss Stein."

"In fact it is Fräulein Stein," Dr. Pretorius corrected the man.

"Natürlich," the man addressed Steve in German. "Sie sprechen Deutsch."

"Uh, Spanish class was a few years ago," Steve replied. "Maybe we could stick to English?"

"Of course," said the man, eyeing the young woman curiously. "If you would follow me this way, I have arranged an office in the building for our use."

"I'm sorry, but I didn't get your name," Steve said as they arrived in the office. "And I'm not exactly clear on what we're doing here?"

"My apologies, Fräulein," the man replied. "My name is Michael Ebersbacher, and I have been Valeria Engel's lawyer for some years. Dr. Engel made some... unusual arrangements with regard to her will, to be handled immediately upon her death. I have been trying to arrange a meeting with you through Dr. Pretorius, although he has been extremely difficult to get hold of!" This last was said with a glare of disapproval toward the doctor.

"As I have explained," said Dr. Pretorius, "I have had a number of unusual arrangements to attend to as well. Rather more unusual than yours, I would venture to say."

We're here now, Mr. Ebe... Ebersb... can I call you Michael?" said Steve. "And I have, like, no clue what you are talking about. Maybe you could just tell me what's going on."

Mr. Ebersbacher took stock of Fräulein Stein once again. In spite of rather serious doubts, he continued.

"We are here to address an unusual clause in Valeria Engel's will, which I drafted under her direction almost two years ago. Dr. Engel had no children, and no surviving family. This being the case she left her entire estate to a number of charitable organizations: The National Aryan Terrorist Initiative, The American Nazi Extremist Organization, among others. This is all very straightforward and not in the least unusual, however Dr. Engel had me include the following paragraph."

Ebersbacher flipped through the pages of the will and read:

"Should I die unexpectedly, you as my legal counsel and executor are to contact Dr. Septimus Pretorius, who will then introduce you to a young woman. Under these circumstances only, the blank document included in Appendix 12 is to be filled out with her name, leaving her as sole heir to my fortune. This document is to be backdated prior to my death, then signed in my name by the young woman. If, in your opinion, her signature matches mine, then the document is to be considered my last will and testament, superseding the one you are reading."

Mr. Ebersbacher set Valeria Engel's will aside, and withdrew a file from his briefcase. In the file was a document.

"I have filled out this document, leaving all of Valeria Engel's worldly goods to you, Mila Stein, backdated to the day prior to her death. All that remains is for you to add Dr. Engel's signature at the bottom as indicated."