flocks of gulls circled the shore and set upon the seawall. Their black outlines filled me with dread; such that I began to wonder if I should avoid Mrs. Knobloch’s call altogether, for she might reveal yet another damning episode in the patient’s early life. In which case I will have failed the patient, and the crows will have had their victory over me.
I slept fitfully, and come Saturday morning I knew that my only hope was the office. I found the elevators under repair, compelling me to climb sixteen flights of stairs, two flights per floor. By the time I reached eight, I was fighting for breath. I stared, dizzy, down the long, empty hallways. I touched the cold marble walls to steady myself. I walked up and down, saw no one, heard no one, and could not face the confinement of my office. As I went by the mail chute, a letter came fluttering down. There was no story above eight! Where had the letter come from! I raced down the corridor and locked myself in Room 807.
Saturday evening came. I went home, where I was surrounded by whisperings. The radio’s static-dashed reports of war in Cambodia. Faraway calls of gulls, now conflated with my crows. Hisses and cries; and, outside, the crash of the surf.
I must have dozed off, for I was awakened by the jangle of the telephone.
58.
This is the Bell System long-distance operator, said a nasal voice. Will you accept a collect call from Israel from Mrs. Orna Knobloch?
Orna, I thought.
Yes, yes, I hurried to say.
After several seconds of static, the connection cleared, and I heard the bright voice of Mrs. Knobloch. Orna.
You did wish me to call first thing in the morning, yes? she said, no doubt hearing the sleep in my voice.
Yes, yes. Just a short nap.
Ah, a little sleep is better than none, yes?
She drew in a breath and quickly said: We will begin where we left off for the Shabbat. The other women with initials M.G.
The first is Miriam Gerstner. As you are not Jewish, Professor, you may not realize that Miriam is a very common name for a Jewish woman. Very common, like Ruth and Sarah and Naomi. And the last name. Gerstner: a name that may come from anywhere in the Western European Diaspora.
Nevertheless, you may believe—
I believe there is not much for you here. All I can learn of this Miriam Gerstner is that she was in Belsen. And the date she left. After that, there is nothing more of her. It is, how do you say in American? A dead end.
I can add only one thing, she went on. Since Miriam Gerstner left Belsen before the founding of the Jewish State, she could have gone only on an Aliyah Bet ship.
Aliyah Bet? I asked.
Vessels making illegal runs to Israel.
Pardon, Mrs. Knobloch. Perhaps you mean Palestine. At the time, it was Palestine.
Excuse me, Professor. I do not intend rudeness. Always for us it was Eretz Yisrael. Which soon came true in 1948.
Of course. My apologies. Eretz Yisrael.
A humph came from Mrs. Knobloch’s end of the line. Then she quickly said, Apology accepted.
And the conversation moved on.
All right, so let us say that Miriam Gerstner is on an Aliyah ship. But all the ships were intercepted by the British, and everyone on them was sent to transit camps. However, there is no record of our Gerstner being in any transit camp.
Oh, she said with a laugh. One ship was sent back to Germany. The famous movie ship Exodus. But that happened later, ’47, after Gerstner left Belsen.
The date she left.
You said you know the date of her departure.
Let me see. Yes. She left on 18 May, 1946.
One day after she surrendered the patient. Yes. This must be the mother. I have found her, I have found her!
Wonderful! Mrs. Knobloch. Wonderful! Exactly the woman I am seeking. After so much research, yours and mine, Mrs. Knobloch, together we have found her.
As you wish, Professor. But what you have here is the date Gerstner leaves Belsen. Then she vanishes. Is enough for you?
Yes, I believe—
Before you believe anything, let me tell you of another M.G.
Excuse me, she said after a pause. Please do not mind. My travel today was delayed and I must be taking the breakfast at my desk.
Not again! I thought. Chomping and chewing and rustling paper as she tortures me!
Now … Here is the next M.G. She is a woman with the Israeli name Michal Gershon.
She pronounced it