hans_1

by the same author:

Hans 2
Hans 3
Hans 4
Hans 5
Hans 6
Hans 7

Sallowski had climbed into the train. Gallantly he lifted the suitcase of the 62 year-old lady onto the luggage rack.

He leaned back in his reserved window seat in the non-smoking compartment and sighed.

Slowly the train started to move.

What hadn’t all happened the last five days !
The letter had arrived unexpectedly. After all it was addressed to Hildegard Sallowski, who wasn’t his (second) wife anymore since the divorce twelve years ago. Besides, she had been dead for nearly five years. On top of that, the sender had been unknown to him. ACHILL ISLAND, IRELAND. After glancing over the letter, a name had settled in his memory: O’Donnell. He had heard this name before, but where?

Exactly ! This had been Hildegard's name when he had met her the first time and when he had married her. She had been a divorced O’Donnell. Her first husband had been an O’Donnell. Patrick O’Donnell of course, because all Irishmen were named after Saint Patrick.
But what was the purpose of this letter? Who was Sean Cannon and what did he want ? He had read the letter again and this time a number had electrified him: 2.5 million Irish Pounds. This would be a fine catch !

Although he wasn’t related to any O’Donnell at all and although he didn’t know whether the ex-husband of his ex-wife was related to Brian O’Donnell, he had immediately realized that this was a unique chance to put his disrupted financial situation right. So without a moment's hesitation he had prepared his luggage and bought the ticket to Ireland.

And now he was sitting in the train to Cologne with some fellow passengers who had the same destination. The older lady. for example. He had read the sticker on her SUITCASE. Sometimes readiness to help was profitable.

He sighed again and glanced full of pleasure at the pretty legs of the young woman with the hand bag. Probably she travelled to Ireland too, because she wore a CELTIC CROSS.

But now some legs much more pretty crossed his field of vision. They belonged to the lady with the suitcase who was on her way to the dining car. When he had entered the train in Hamburg he had heard this lady asking the conductor for the connecting train to Brussels. So he was quite sure that she, too, was travelling to the O’Donnell-meeting.

Sallowski decided to follow her and to establish contact. So he took along his file which contained all the information he had found about Brian O’Donnell, the letter from WESTERN LIGHT ART GALLERY included.