It was far from crystal clear what the problem was – presumably they were talking at cross purposes. In any case, it was Renate who had the last word, in that she slammed the palm of her hand down on the table and declared that it was no wonder Erich was as he was, with a father like his. Van Veeteren would have liked to respond by saying that his mother’s good genes and qualities could perhaps compensate for his father’s inadequacies, at least to some extent, but she had already left the kitchen by then. As he solved the chess problem in the Allgemejne, he wondered yet again why they didn’t bring matters to a head and separate once and for all – and what effect such a development might have on their wayward son. Things couldn’t become any worse, he concluded. You always knew what you had but you never knew what you might get. As everybody knows. The minor controversy over breakfast had one good outcome, he realized as he emerged into the sunshine in Wimmerstraat.
