"Watson-TheAmberRoom" - читать интересную книгу автора (Watson Ian)

and of Maxburn Airfoils too.

* * *

I had seen Amber fall from the sky.

I flew to Kaliningrad on a newly inaugurated direct flight from Warsaw, and on
the way through Immigration an encounter occurred which was to prove crucial.

Manning the desk were a fresh-faced young officer and a sallow older colleague
whose high cheekbones and absence of folds to the eyelids proclaimed Mongol
blood in his ancestry. . .

Now, I'd opted for a tourist visa, which meant that I'd been obliged to arrange
accommodation expensively in advance. Intourist in London had tried to book me
into a so-called "'floating palace" on the river in the center of the city. A
couple of cruise ships were permanently moored in lieu of modem luxury hotels.
The month of May was an excellent time to stay in one of those, supposedly.

I didn't wish to be cooped up where my comings and goings could be monitored.
And what was this business about the month of May? Further questioning of the
Intourist lady, who had actually visited Kaliningrad, disclosed that in May the
weather wouldn't be scorching, consequently I could keep the porthole of my
cabin shut. The river, it seemed, stank somewhat. I opted instead for a hotel on
terra firma several kilometers from the city center. The Baltika was very
popular with tour companies, I was assured.

The younger immigration officer wished to see how much money I had with me. This
seem ed an American sort of question in this city where all hard currencies were
legal tender nowadays. Despite having prepaid for my hotel, Did I have enough to
support myself during my stay? I did have enough, and more. Much more.

He eyed my amber pendant. "Are you here to buy jewelry?" he demanded. "Your
passport says you are an engineer."

We were speaking German. The older man interrupted to point out that I seemed
very fluent in German, whereas my passport was a British one.

"My Grossmutter came from Germany," I told him.

"From so-called Northern East Prussia, Herr Burn?" Did I detect a note of
nationalist displeasure? "Nordliche Ostpreussen" was how Germans still referred
to the Kaliningrad Oblast.

"No, she came from Hannover. She fled from the Nazis in '34. She hated Nazis."

The man smiled, then.

"Is an engineer here to buy jewelry?" persisted the junior officer. Why the
quiz? Amber is hardly gold or rubies. Who would wish to smuggle it? As I