Stumble Stones

by Marilyn Baron

  “You have exquisite taste, Mr. Stone.”

  “Thank you.” The jeweler picked up the setting and let Alexander examine it.

  “This is the one. How soon can you have it ready?”

  “Well we’re about to close, so how about tomorrow morning? Can you leave it with me?”

  “That will work. And yes, but I don’t have to tell you how valuable the piece is.”

  “I understand,” said the jeweler.

  Alexander walked out of the jewelry store humming.

  ****

  As soon as his customer left, the jeweler picked up the telephone.

  “Julian, this is Otto. Your man was just in the store, and he had one of the Hirschfeld diamonds with him. He’s getting it set as an engagement ring. I thought you’d want to know.”

  “Did he bring the rest of the diamonds?”

  “I didn’t see them. I told him to come back tomorrow morning to pick up his order.”

  “Excellent. I will be waiting. Mr. Stone must be back at his house, which is right around the corner from your shop.”

  “Glad I could be of help.”

  “And when I do collect the rest of the order, I can use your help disposing of them.”

  “The happy couple or the diamonds?” the jeweler wanted to know.

  Julian laughed. “Both.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Hallelujah

  “Hallelujah?”

  “I’m upstairs,” she called, rising from her desk and stretching. “You were gone a long time.”

  “I stopped by the office to make some calls. I made us a reservation at a neighborhood trattoria.”

  “Italian again? I’m not complaining, mind you. I could eat pasta every night.”

  “I know. Anything happen while I was away?”

  “No, it was perfectly quiet. I got a lot done. I could work here.”

  “I’m glad.”

  He kissed her on the lips, took her hand, and they walked down the stairs.

  “The restaurant is not far from here.”

  They walked out the door, and Alexander set the alarm.

  It was a crisp night. The stars were bright in the sky. The moon was full. It was lovely.

  “The food at the restaurant is very good, and it’s right in the neighborhood. You know, after Sigrid broke up with me, I used to walk by this restaurant and look at all the happy couples inside and wish I had someone to eat there with. And now I have you.” He squeezed her hand.

  “I think Sigrid made a big mistake. You’re pretty hot. I’m probably going to have to keep a close eye on you.”

  “Most girls just find me boring. All I talk about is work, and that’s a turnoff.”

  “You’re not that way with me. I like the fact that you have a big brain. I find you fascinating.”

  “I guess when you’re in love, that’s the way it is.”

  “I guess so.”

  They walked into the restaurant.

  “Reservation for Stone.”

  They were led to an intimate table in a glassed-in garden.

  “This is very romantic,” said Hallelujah.

  The server handed them the menus and recited the specials.

  “I’ll have spaghetti with white clam sauce,” said Hallelujah after studying the menu.

  “Make mine the lasagna. Hallelujah, would you like red or white wine?”

  “I’ll have a glass of Moscato d’Asti.”

  “Bring us a bottle of your Moscato,” Alexander said. The server left to fill their drink order.

  “So what did you have to take care of at work?”

  “I don’t want to bore you, just playing catch-up.”

  “What about your errands?”

  “Well, that’s a surprise.”

  “Hmm. You are full of surprises.”

  The server brought the wine, and they made a toast.

  “Just think. A few days ago we were on a ship,” said Hallelujah. “Sometimes it feels like we’re still swaying.”

  “I think that’s the Moscato talking.”

  The food arrived, and it was delicious.

  “I think the food here is as good as it is in Italy,” she remarked.

  “I’m not a connoisseur of Italian food, but it tastes good to me.”

  After dinner, they strolled around the neighborhood. When they got back to the house, they looked at the stumble stones, glowing in the moonlight.

  “What a lovely tribute,” Hallelujah said. “I love the idea of the stumble stones.”

  “Me too.”

  As they walked up to the house, Hallelujah exclaimed, “Oh, no, Alexander, look.” Her body shook as she pointed to the wall.

  He looked up and saw a hastily painted swastika dripping in blood red against the white stucco, illuminated by the moon and the front porch light. Beside the swastika were two messages: “Kill the Jews” and “Jews to the Gas.” He drew her to him.

  “Don’t look,” he said, gritting his teeth and whipping out his cell phone. “I’ll have my construction team out to remove it. It will be gone in the morning. I’m calling the police.”

  “It’s a warning, to me.”

  “I hate that you had to see that.”

  “I hate that they ruined your beautiful new home.”

  “Our home. This was not the welcome to my city I had in mind.”

  “Does this happen often?”

  “I’ve never seen it before.”

  “I have. Back home. It’s not uncommon. Someone once burned a swastika on our lawn. My father’s answer was to gather the congregation and the town leaders together, a coming-together moment, he called it. I think it’s the work of cowards. I suspect that deep down no one has changed. I told him he was wasting his time, and his answer was that forgiveness and understanding are never a waste of time.”

  “Let’s go inside.”

  “Do you think they got into the house?”

  Alexander punched in the alarm code and looked around. “It doesn’t appear that they did.”

  He locked the door and led her into the kitchen, offering her a glass of hot cocoa.

  “I hope you won’t let this influence your decision to stay.”

  “On the contrary. They don’t know me. I’m stubborn. It just helped me make up my mind. If I want to stay in Berlin, I will stay. No one is going to chase me away. We have an obligation to the Hirschfelds and to the other survivors. This is our home and their home, too, and I refuse to leave.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Alexander and Hallelujah

  Alexander walked into the jewelry store and was greeted by the owner. “Do you have the ring ready?”

  “Yes. Why don’t you come in the back with me, and we can look at it together.”

  “The back?” In Alexander’s admittedly limited experience of buying jewelry, he had never heard of conducting business in the back of the shop. That should have been a red flag. He was beginning to get a bad feeling.

  Noting his customer’s consternation, the jeweler responded, “Only our best customers get to see the back room. Come.”

  Still wary, Alexander followed the jeweler into the back through a steel door, and into a storeroom of sorts.

  “I will be right back with your ring,” the jeweler announced. “Have a seat.” He indicated a side chair. Not a very comfortable side chair. In front of the chair was a small table and opposite him on the other side of the table was another chair. There was a naked bulb hanging from the ceiling. It looked more like an interrogation room than a jewelry store.

  Alexander waited for about ten minutes and had just started to get up when a man walked into the room. He was short and stocky, and very well dressed.

  “Mr. Stone, I am glad to make your acquaintance. I am Julian Hoffman.” He shook Alexander’s hand and pulled out the chair opposite Alexander’s.

  “Where is Herr Weber?”

  “He’s currently with a customer. I’m here to talk to you about the diamond you broug
ht in. The Hirschfeld diamond.”

  Alexander’s mouth opened in surprise. “How do you know about that?”

  “Herr Stone—or should I call you Alexander? You’ll find that there’s not much I don’t know about many things.”

  Alexander started to rise again but was stopped by a firm hand on his shoulder.

  “We have some unfinished business, Herr Stone,” the man said smoothly. “That diamond was part of a group of diamonds promised to my father during the war and never delivered.”

  “I don’t understand,” Alexander said.

  “I think you do. You are currently living in the house that my father, Franz Hoffman, used to own. The diamonds were hidden in that house when he sold it. My father is dead. Therefore, those diamonds belong to me.”

  So this was Herr Hoffman’s son with Eva. He looked like a mob boss.

  “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

  “Let me see if I can refresh your memory.”

  Alexander eyed the door in case he had to make a quick getaway. He was younger and taller than Herr Hoffman, but the villain was stronger.

  Julian smiled.

  “If you’re thinking of screaming or escaping, let me assure you that the door is made of steel, and no one can hear us. So, where were we? Ah, yes, we were discussing the diamonds. Let us put our cards on the table, so to speak.” At that point, he removed a gun from his jacket pocket and placed it on the table between them.

  Alexander’s eyes bulged. “Are you threatening me?”

  “That is the furthest thing from my mind. I am not a killer, Mr. Stone. Far from it. I run a very lucrative import/export business. No need for alarm. You’re a businessman. I’m a businessman. I think we can conclude our transaction very easily.”

  “I have only the one diamond. It’s for my fiancée’s engagement ring.”

  “If that’s the case, then you’ll be free to leave with your diamond. But I am afraid that is not the case,” said Julian, fingering the gun. “I know you found a bag of diamonds, diamonds with very specific marks, because you brought them in to Herr Weber to have them appraised. Then they were stored in your bank safe deposit box. After which you took them on a plane to Rome, where you met the very beautiful Hallelujah Weiss, boarded a cruise ship, and now you are back in Berlin.”

  “Keep Hallelujah out of it.”

  Julian rubbed the metal of the handgun.

  “I’m afraid your fiancée is very much in it, up to her very Jewish neck.”

  “Was it you who painted the swastika on my house?”

  “Not me personally. I generally do not get my hands dirty. But I might make an exception for the lovely Hallelujah.”

  Alexander jumped up. “My fiancée doesn’t scare easily.”

  “We will soon see if that is true. And I wouldn’t run, if I were you. My men are right outside that door. Besides, I would blow a hole in your head before you reached the door. I am a very good shot. And then where would Hallelujah be? Right now, I know exactly where she is because I have some men outside your house with instructions to bring her to me. So you will be reunited with your lovely bride-to-be before you know it.”

  Alexander sat down on the chair.

  “I hope you are not going to make the same mistake as Herr Hirschfeld did. He refused to give my father the diamonds he promised, and regrettably he and his family and many of their friends paid the ultimate price. He did not take my father seriously.”

  “Certainly we are no longer in Nazi Germany. And his entire family did not pay the price. I believe your mother survived the ordeal.”

  Julian flinched. “What do you know about my mother?”

  “I met with your mother in Baden, Switzerland. You didn’t know that, did you? You underestimate your mother. She is a very brave woman. She sacrificed a lot to get the proof to put your father and his illicit organization away. She gave me some documents that can expose your entire operation.”

  “My mother knows nothing about my operation.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. When she was married to your father, she kept detailed records of all the transactions, including paintings, jewelry, and property. With those documents and her testimony, you and your entire company will be destroyed and all of your stolen goods forfeited.”

  Julian grabbed the gun. “That was decades ago. If she has such information, why hasn’t it surfaced? And where are those documents now?”

  “In a very safe place, along with the diamonds. At first, she didn’t know who she could trust or what she could do about it. Then, I have a feeling, she was trying to protect you. She knows you are up to your neck in the stink of your corporation, and she still loves you, but now she is doing the right thing.”

  “You don’t know who you’re dealing with, Mr. Stone. And when your fiancée gets here, I think you will have an attitude adjustment.”

  “If you hurt her, I will come after you.”

  “You don’t scare me. You have no idea how deep the roots of our enterprise go.”

  “Then why don’t you tell me?”

  “No, I prefer that you tell me exactly where the documents and the diamonds are, if there are any documents.”

  “They’re not in my house, so there’s no use looking for them there. Your mother told me all about how your father came to their home and dragged the family away, your family. Are you following in your father’s footsteps? Are you capable of murder?”

  “I am very proud of my father and everything he accomplished. People today don’t understand the importance of the Nazi movement and the significance of keeping Germany strong.”

  “Does keeping Germany strong require stealing from innocent people and selling their goods for profit? Taking over their houses like your father took over your mother’s house, and trading on their misery? He certainly did not purchase it, as you say. I would expect something like that from your father, but you are also Hannah’s child.”

  Julian spit at the floor. “My mother’s name was Eva, and she never loved me or my father. Now I’m right where I belong, and I intend to get back what she stole from my father and from me. You’d be smart not to get in my way.”

  “Or what?”

  “Believe me, you don’t want to find out.”

  “You don’t frighten me. And for the record, your mother did not have the diamonds all these years. I found them when I was renovating my home. I tried to give them back to her, but she wouldn’t take them.”

  “Then she’s a fool.”

  Julian made a call, and Herr Weber appeared.

  “I have your ring, Mr. Stone.” He handed over a velvet ring case to Alexander, who looked inside at the magnificent piece. It was polished to perfection and lit up the room.

  “Hallelujah will love this.” He placed the ring box on the table.

  “Thank you, Otto,” said Julian. “And now you will leave us. But kindly bring Fräulein Weiss back to us when she arrives.”

  The jeweler nodded and left the room.

  “It’s your choice, Mr. Stone. Take the ring and your fiancée and live your lives. You don’t owe those people anything. Most of them are dead anyway, and they won’t know the difference. They have no heirs. It’s as if they never existed. So what if we want to make a profit? What’s wrong with that?”

  “What’s wrong is that thousands of pieces of art were confiscated from the collections of Jewish citizens and were never returned to their rightful owners. Many of those pieces were stolen by your father and his friends, the profits of which you are now living on.

  “And, on the contrary, those victims did exist and do exist. Abraham Hammerman and his first wife Madeline are very much alive, and so are their heirs,” Alexander continued. “Mr. Hammerman has been trying to prove his ownership of several masterpieces that are currently hanging in museums around the world, and others are undoubtedly hidden away in private collections. Paintings that your father sold to them. We now have the paper trail to prove the provenance of those pai
ntings, so if we can document Mr. Hammerman’s ownership, these valuable paintings can be returned.”

  “There are numerous international organizations involved in restitution of stolen property during the war. What does that have to do with me? I wasn’t even born then.”

  “Unfortunately, many of these organizations merely set up task forces that move at a snail’s pace and do little or nothing to research provenance. So restoring possessions to the rightful owners could take years. That means survivors like the Hammermans must wait a lifetime for restitution and compensation, and they don’t have a lifetime left to wait. With these documents and the deposition of Hannah Hirschfeld Grandcouer, your partnership will be linked with what your father called the U-Group. Luckily, they kept very precise records of who they stole from, exactly what they stole, and who they sold it to.

  “And I imagine you’ve been sitting on some very valuable paintings in the decades since the war, anticipating higher profits in the millions of dollars. Perhaps the German Lost Art Database would be interested in those records. Perhaps you are hiding income. Who knows what they might find when your home and business are searched and your books examined? I imagine you don’t always operate by the letter of the law. It’s all about transparency, these days, or lack of it. I know the newspapers would love to break such a story. And the Israelis would love to get in on the action.”

  Julian picked up the weapon on the table, and his face was contorted with rage.

  “You are in no position to threaten me.” He leveled the gun at Alexander, and his hand shook as he tried to maintain a calm demeanor.

  “I didn’t want to have to do this. I am not a violent man. But you leave me no choice.”

  Alexander took a deep breath. This was not how he’d anticipated the day would turn out. He had fully expected to return home, propose to Hallelujah, this time properly, this time with a ring. Today was to be the beginning of their lives together. But sometimes it was a matter of right and wrong. And sometimes sacrifices had to be made.

  “I don’t care what you do to me. But please leave Hallelujah alone. She has done nothing. I was the one who got her involved in the first place. She knows nothing of the details of the documents.”