Chapter 27 Museum Island

23:56

Their room at colorfully ornamented Happy Go Lucky was rather modest, but the hostel was crowded with cheerful and adventurous people and Lena needed a break. As she couldn’t speak German and didn’t find sense in hanging there just waiting for Robert’s translations, only Robert went to Humbolt University, where Conrad Koch was once employed. There was no one who remembered him well (all employees from that time either changed their occupation or moved the country). He was informed that there was one woman - a previous Koch’s co-worker, who had once shared an office with him and still lived in Berlin, having retired a few years before.

Hannah Weber was a lovely elderly lady with thin gray hair tied in a ponytail. She was over eighty years old, but behind wrinkles and curved back, you could see her enthusiasm at the mention of historical facts and dates. She was interested in the history of Africa, especially ancient kingdoms, queens, and empires. When she started talking, you were under the impression that she was barely a teen who was struck by the bug of aging. She welcomed Robert to her small flat, full of souvenirs from her travels, books, paintings, and sculptures. She offered him a cup of tea and was impressed by his appearance.

‘You’re such a handsome young man. When I was younger I had such good-looking students, such beautiful boys. I even married one. The age difference wasn’t a problem, as you see. He was fifteen years younger and he died too early. I’ve been a widow for over a decade.’

Robert knew something about age difference, as there was almost ten years’ difference between him and Anton. But, as people were living longer and longer each year with all those advances in medicine, science, and technology, was that really so important?

‘You have a lovely place. You must have enjoyed your work.’

‘Well, yes, immensely. But the politics, the envy between professors. The more time you spent there, the more you were tired of the unimportant matters. I loved my job. I wasn’t a perfectionist. I sometimes mixed dates and facts, but I had such a great time with these young people, you just cannot imagine.’

Robert smiled.

‘Do you still remember Conrad Koch?’

‘Of course. For a couple of years, we shared a small office. We got to know each other pretty well. He was a charismatic young man. Not the most handsome, unfortunately. It’s such a pleasure to spend days admiring simple beauty. He was nothing, comparing to you, but he was really good at his job. I was impressed by his knowledge of history. He knew everything about the artifacts from our museums. From time to time, he took his students there and forced these facts into their heads. He was, so to speak, a living guide.’

‘Do you remember the names of these students? Have you got any idea why he had disappeared?’

‘To be honest, we had so many theories back then. We even suspected that he had an affair with one of the students and went somewhere with her, possibly eloped. Some of us thought that he was unhappy about being discriminated at work. You know, he was young, but he had knowledge comparable to more experienced university lecturers. Young people don’t like to be patronized. We missed him. It was difficult to find someone of his abilities.’

‘And his students? Do you remember his students, the ones who went with him to museums?’

Hannah Weber smiled.

‘I don’t have to remember. I have something better. We took pictures from his group meetings. He was taking photographs as a hobby. I have kept some of them. They should be somewhere here...’

Hannah Weber stood up and reached into her drawer.

‘Oh, here they are. We looked so nice, so fresh. Look, here’s Conrad, I’m somewhere there. Yes, I still have this scarf. If you turn the page, you will be able to see the names of the students.’

‘Can I keep it?’

‘If it will be useful, of course. I have so many souvenirs. I don’t know what I will do with them once I’m gone.’

‘You should write to your students. Maybe they will take care of them. Or leave some things to museums. People would appreciate it.’

‘I would definitely think about it. Good luck with your investigation.’

Robert came back to the hostel to find Lena surrounded by backpackers from Canada, drinking beer and telling funny stories.

‘We have to go somewhere,’ he said maintaining a serious face, pulling her out of the teen crowd.

‘Where?’

‘To Museum Island’

There were a couple of reasons to go there, apart from his own egoistic wish to watch once again all these artifacts and ancient artworks, including impressive Pergamon Altar, beautiful Ishtar Gate, and Nefertiti Bust. He wanted to know if someone there remembered anything about ambitious Conrad Koch.

Lena was probably under the influence of alcohol, as she enjoyed the sightseeing to the extent of staring at some of the artifacts longer than necessary. Tiredness, the lack of sleep and long traveling hours must have hit her, as she laughed at some of the sculptures that weren’t at all funny.

Robert, on the other hand, asked every museum employee about Conrad Koch.

‘Oh, I remember him! He was better than some of the guides that we employed permanently,’ said one of the Pergamon Museum’s curator ‘He dragged his students to every single exhibition. He sometimes stayed late to study the artifacts we have in storage but have no place to put them on display. He had to obtain a special permission to do that. You cannot just come out of nowhere and search through our deposits.’

‘Has anyone else had access to these things?’

‘Apart from museum employees?’

‘Yes.’

‘I would have to check the archives. We have so many exhibitions, it’s difficult to keep track of how many people come and go. But I cannot do it now, I’m busy. It’s a busy hour for visitors. But if you wait, I can find out by the end of the week.’

‘I’m afraid we don’t have as much time. We still have to go to Munich and Cologne. This is my telephone number and mail. If you get to know about something, please, do contact me immediately.’

The man nodded and put Robert’s data in his pocket.

Lena, drunk, read the leaflet and laughed to herself.

‘Fine, museum experiences are over. Let’s eat something. You need a square meal to get rid of the promiles in your blood.’

They ate a traditional German meal with meat and potatoes while discussing Koch’s life.

‘You already see the analogy, don’t you?’, Robert finished his meal ‘All very good history professors. Young ambitious, charismatic people. I wouldn’t be surprised if the other ones were very similar. What do you think?’

‘I’m actually curious why they had all disappeared. You know, smart people have problems with fitting in the society. Einstein for instance. You’re good at something, you’re hopeless at other things. Maybe they just didn’t fit in? Or they formed a secret society of historians and created teleportation.’

‘Teleportation?’ Robert raised his eyebrows, not really sure if Lena was sober, ‘But there are gaps. There’s not really a possibility that they knew each other. Different times, different universities.’

‘What about conferences? These people meet at various conferences, right?’

‘You’re right.We should check the conferences!’

‘I told you. They might have known each other. What if they had been each other’s students and continued the tradition?’

‘This actually can be checked pretty easily. But what tradition, of disappearing?’

‘Maybe it is a sect of historians? A sect of historians who move to a different epoch in a time machine!’

Lena was apparently still drunk.

‘You already mentioned a secret society. I’ll ask Johan Yzerman to check if they could have ever met each other. We have a span of many years. Forty, including Woźniak and Pieczka. I agree, though, it’s a small world. It’s more probable that they had bumped into each other than that they invented the time machine in the first place.’

Lena nodded enthusiastically.

‘So you agree that they invented the time machine.’

Robert ignored her.

They had three cities ahead of them and they didn’t know much more than a week before.