"Do you remember many years ago Father took me aside and he told me I was preoccupied with the insignificant morbidly preoccupied, in his opinion." "Well, for years now, I've led a life that even he must call normal." "Except for the fact that in my odd, spare moments..." "I write." "It may be a disappointment to him, but I ask is it a crime?" "Kafka?" "The Keeper of the Files is still waiting for your final summation of the Erlinger claim." "I gave it to him yesterday." " You didn't give it to me." " I gave it to him." "In an organisation as efficient as ours" "When a document, once in a great while, gets lost, it might never be found at all." "I just thought it would be easier, since I was passing." "But I'm the messenger!" "An error like this damages my credibility." "Burgel, your credibility is unparalleled." "When I deliver a message, the very act of delivering it, you might say, has an official stamp." "I'll write that down." "Kafka" "Your position in this firm is not unassailable." "Good morning, Miss Rossman." "Or should I say, good afternoon?" " Say what you like." "Nobody listens." " Oh." "Don't they?" "I think perhaps, dear lady, you underestimate my station in this office and overrate your own." "Not now, Burgel." "It is my place to give advice, not yours." "And by advising the Chief Clerk of your unpunctuality it's certainly not my position that's being compromised, if that's what you're implying." "You're just doing your job." "It's what I'm paid to do." "Sweet?" "You're pathetic." "And you're late." "Write that down in your little book." "Miss Rossman," "I work in the section next to you." "I know." "I understand you're a friend of Eduard Raban." "Am I?" "He once mentioned that he knew you and..." "One of you must be mistaken." "I'm sorry, but I'm sure that I saw you once together" "There are people watching!" "Don't make me embarrass you." "You have ink on your nose." "I'll expect your written resignation" "immediately." "Ah!" "Away from your section, without cause." "I knew it would happen one day." "Kafka?" "Yes, sir." "Then it's Kafka." "Oh..." "I'm looking for Mr. Raban, from upstairs." "I can't hear you." "Mr. Raban." "Do you know where he is?" "I didn't mean to get you out of bed." "I could have taken the key." "Yes, I'm sure you could." "Do you think you should be looking at that?" "It's my house, isn't it?" " Well, yes, it's your house but" " Out" "He's not here, so out!" "Come on." "Excuse me, have you seen Eduard Raban?" "No" "Has anyone here seen Eduard?" "Have you seen Eduard tonight?" "Eduard Raban?" "Do you remember last week he was telling those jokes, you found them hysterical?" "Did I?" "Doesn't sound like me." "Didn't he run away with those actors?" " Are you coming to the cabaret?" " No, I've got to go home and work." "Don't you ever sleep?" " Leaving?" " No I'm trying to find Eduard." "You haven't seen him have you?" " Who?" " Eduard" "Look, wait here." "We're just picking up Julius." "Wait!" "You know Anna, don't you?" "How long have you been here?" "I just got here." "No, how long have you been here?" "A few days." "I went to your parents' house." " You saw my Father?" " I didn't go to see him." "But I told you in my letter I'd moved out." "Well you told me that you wanted to moved out." "Repeatedly and at great length." "Well I'll be living in town now, only because of my work." "So you'll be able to save on postage." "Anyway, you know where to find me." "He's coming over." "I went to Eduard's apartment." " Eduard's apartment." " He's not there." "He hasn't been seen there." "I mean, not for a day or two." "Not by the landlady, in any case." "Thank you" "I'll try again then." " How much have you told him?" " He's only a clerk, he knows nothing." " Eduard said he was a writer." " That might be useful." "That may be dangerous." "It's not your bike, Frederic!" "Kafka!" "Will we see you at the cabaret?" "You'd never get in now." "Another excuse to go, Homer" "What are you working on?" "A thing about a man who wakes up to find himself transformed into a giant insect" "I want a drink" "Like most things the castle can look majestic" "But only at a distance" "Oh!" "Have we met?" "Bizzlebek is the name" " The gravedigger." " Stonecutter, to be precise." "I'm sorry." "Sculptor, actually, if I had any freedom in the matter." "But no-one should call himself an artist unless he's paid for it." "and perhaps not even then." "Yours is a noisy line of work." "Well, it's external noise." "Whereas you the reverberations are inside." "I've read your stories." "They're quite fantastic." "I can't imagine what you've ever seen." "Just what you've published." "In magazines nobody reads." "They should be filed in the Castle with all other useless bits of paper." "Nonetheless, some of us take an interest in your case." "That one story, for instance, about the penal colony." "The needles inscribing the judgment into the flesh of the condemned man." "It's new." "I need to find a clever device to make my work more noticeable." "I'm off to the cabaret." "After a full day's work in the Castle cemetery," "I have a strong urge to see figures in motion before going to bed." "Good night, Kafka." "Good night, Mr. Bizzlebek." "The terrible toil of the insurance office continues as ever." "I am continually harassed by petty tyrants." "as I issue pointless reports." "My friend Eduard has disappeared." "You never met him because I never dared bring a friend home." "Not with Father lording over us all from his armchair." "Now I hear that Anna paid you a visit." "My relations with her have been difficult, to say the least." "I can only hope Father didn't frighten her away any further." "Your son..." "Your loving son" "Your occasionally loving son" "Your incapable-of-loving son" "Your absolutely-bored-to-death- with-any-sort-of-family-life son." "You know him?" "Yes." "His name is Eduard Raban?" "Yes." "Inspector Grubach." "Kafka." "Kafka, Kafka..." "Is that your real name?" "Yes." "Why shouldn't it be?" "When was the last time you saw Mr. Raban?" "Wednesday." " At work?" " Yes." "Did you go anywhere afterward?" "To have a drink, perhaps?" "No, we said goodbye outside the office, and he went straight towards his house." " Your office is the Workers..." " ..." "Accident Insurance Association." " Where you've been employed for seven years." " Eight." "And seven months." "Would you describe your relationship with the dead man as close?" "No." "No?" "Yes." "Yes, no, yes, no what?" "I worked in the same office with him for three years." "He was found in the river." "Could he swim?" "Do you think?" "You think he drowned himself?" "Grown men don't normally fall into the river, do they?" "No." "He might have had a drink or two, despite what you think." "Can I ask how you found me?" "Of course, of course." "His landlady told us you'd been there and that you took a great interest in looking through his things." "Well, uh, he was a very close f..." "He didn't have any other fr..." "He had no family." "We know that." "Is that all?" "No." "We know other things, too." "Kafka." "I don't usually involve myself with people in the Old Quarter but the river runs its own course." "Anyway I'd like you to know that in me you have, not a friend, of course because we are complete strangers from distinctly incompatible social classes but to some extent, shall we say...." "an interested third party." "I'll bear that in mind." "Yes, should you happen upon anything that might be relevant." "Yes." "You wanted to see me, sir?" "Sit down, Kafka." "You've been here for nearly 9 years." "You've done your work diligently." "There are no complaints on that score." "But there's more to the job than the work." "There are other people to consider." "And frankly, Kafka..." "We feel your social activities leave a lot to be desired." "My social activities?" "You're a lone wolf." "You keep too much to yourself." "It makes me uneasy." "and if it makes me uneasy, I can't imagine the impression you make on lesser employees." "But in order to finish my work, I have little time" "You must make the time." "Have you never wondered" "Why other clerks have advanced to more responsible positions, while you who've been here longer, have not?" "No, sir." "It doesn't matter how well you do your work." "It's clear you look on it as something to be gotten through rather than something to take an active interest in." "I know you were friendly with that poor fellow." "What was his name?" "Eduard Raban?" "Yes, Raban." "But he was too like you." "Even more like you perhaps than you are yourself." "In any case, and don't ask me why word has come down you are to receive the promotion intended for him." "You will be given two assistants and a commensurate rise in salary." "That's all." "Thank you." "I understand you fancy yourself as a writer." "In a small way." "You should find a more athletic hobby." "Put some colour in your cheeks." "My assistants, I presume." "I'm Kafka." "Ludwig." "Oscar." "You're brothers?" " Twins." " Actually." " Have you worked here long?" " Why?" " No." " Yes." " Actually." " Long." "Well, let's start moving in." "Are you free for lunch?" "Eduard." "That's" "That's a very difficult subject." "He wasn't capable of suicide." "He was obsessed by the idea of it." "I was surprised by the..." "Surprised by the timing, but I wasn't surprised by the act." " Perhaps he had two faces." " No" " One for you and one for me." " He wasn't like that." " Are you sure?" "I knew him very well." "Then you knew we were having an affair." "Oh, yes." "Eduard and I both led very different lives outside the office." "We knew there might be consequences." "What sort of consequences?" "Look what happened." "We don't know what happened." "We know he wasn't robbed" "The police identified him by his wallet." "And you believe everything the authorities tell you?" "When I have no reason to doubt." "They're authorities." "That's reason enough." "For all we know, he was killed by the police." "Why would they do that?" "Will you meet me tonight?" "Tonight?" "Where?" "The Musil District." "Right." "Does that mean yes?" "Oh, yes." "Tonight." "You were almost married recently, weren't you?" "Oh, yes." "Uh..." "Last year I was engaged, twice..." "to the same woman." "I'm not really..." "I broke it off." "Eduard wanted to get married." "And you?" "I'm suspicious of men who want to marry." "What time?" "Whereabouts in the Musil District?" "Go to the Esplanade." "Nine o'clock." "you'll find your way from there." "Enjoy." "It's another bombing!" "I think it's dangerous..." "He might be able to help..." "It's too risky..." "Please sit down, Kafka." "I doubt Eduard told you about us and our... activities." "Why take me into your confidence?" "My question exactly." "Have you seen any of our literature?" "I can't say I have." "Well our distribution at present is somewhat less than effective." "The issue at hand is the quality of what we distribute" "We thought you might be able to help us in that regard." "I write by myself... for myself." "You see?" "This is work that can change the way things are." "It's not work I can do..." "Even if I were sympathetic to your... cause." "It's certainly not work that I can do for hire." "They may have instituted proceedings against you." "What kind of proceedings?" " The current way of the investigation is the trial" " And the sentencing." "I believe that Eduard found out what that could be like." "The day he died, Eduard was called to the castle." "Did you know that?" "What of it?" "He was summonded to help correct... a minor discrepancy of some sort in the Medical Records Division." "And he was never seen alive again." "So, what does that tell you?" "That he was murdered?" "He was murdered!" "As you can imagine a pass into the Castle was an opportunity we couldn't ignore." "He set off that evening, carrying one of our custom-made "briefcases"" "With a message... for the Castle." "You're shocked at the thought of Eduard delivering a bomb?" "You don't have to accept everything as true, my friend." "You need only accept it as necessary." "Since the bomb never went off, he must have been caught with it and executed." "It has happened before." "Must have been?" "Did any of you..." "The Castle will deny everything." "They're just file clerks up there." "No doubt he was handed over to the police, with the utmost discretion." "In any event, we've had no repercussions as yet." "Eduard must not have talked." "You're the one they contacted." "So that's who the enemy is:" "policemen and file clerks." "Law and order, you might say." "You think what we're doing is wrong?" "What would you suggest then?" "Did any of you actually go up to the Castle with Eduard?" "Did you?" "You sit around twisting the facts to suit your... inbred theories." "In my experience, the truth is not that convenient." "You see?" "He thinks only of himself." "It's why you came here tonight." "That's true." "It's also why I'm leaving." "I can't swim!" "Good morning" "How was your evening?" " Fine." " Horrible." "What was the matter with it?" "Well he can't sit still." "Everytime we go to a nightclub..." "Yeah, I want to go on to another one." "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah." "You look very tired." "Miss Rossman was here looking for you." "Gabriela." "Do you know her?" "Do you?" "We saw her naked once." "Women!" "It's all you've got on your mind, you..." "She went to the roof to sunbathe one lunch hour" "That's right and we watched her changing." "We used to work in the Supply section, carrying boxes." "Boxes of medicine" "We kept on dropping them." "And we watched her changing." "It's not too bad working here, though." "You've never felt it was a horrible double life from which there was probably no escape but insanity?" " Yes" " No" "I envy you" "You should be content, y'know." "You should!" "You are looking for Gabriela Rossman?" "Yes" "Please" "This has been opened" "Oh." "Shall I reseal it?" "There's not a lot of point." "I got your note Burgel gave it to me." "Burgel?" "I didn't leave it with Burgel." "What are you doing?" "Clearing out Eduard's things, before someone else does." "Things of value or things which connect the two of you?" "Both." "I thought you might like to do the same." "Yours?" "Probably not worth keeping." "Some of those letters may be mine." "Damn it!" "Are you all right?" "Why were you fired?" "They don't need reasons any more." "To fire me, to kill Eduard." "They?" "Who is "they"?" "They!" "the authorities, the police!" "The Castle, Burgel!" "Burgel?" "I don't see Burgel as a "they"" "He's more of an "it"" "It's the small ones you've got to look out for." "The small men with small ideas." "Don't open that." "Why not?" "Why not?" "Opening and closing the latch." "That's what activates it." "You said Eduard was murdered on his way to the Castle carrying the bomb." "If this the bomb..." "How many bombs are there?" "It's so easy for you to believe it was suicide, isn't it?" "What?" "Less trouble for the police." "Less disturbing for you." "It's not disturbing." "I want to know." "Go ahead, open it!" "Don't think they haven't been watching." "To them, we're all connected." "The group, Eduard, me and you." "Gabriela." "If I waited for you to understand, it would be too late." "I looked in the street She wasn't there." "She wasn't either way" "She disappeared into thin air between leaving the room and coming out of that door." "Did you go to her house?" "Did I what?" "Did you go to her house?" "No, I didn't go to her house." "I see." "So..." "Why would someone want to kidnap this woman?" "Her name is, uh..." "Roseman?" "Rossman." "Why?" "You asked me to tell you if anything relevant came up." "Miss Rossman is relevant." "When I saw you before, I didn't know she was... friendly with Mr. Raban." "Apparently she was friendly with many people." "She was friendly with you." " That has been noted." " But where does it lead us?" "Unless you have something more to add." "She's missing!" "Isn't that enough for you to go on?" "Yeah, it's enough, it's enough" "She lost her job today." "I'd probably go away and brood a bit myself." "Yours?" "Yes." "Maybe she was right, then, in what she said." "What did she say?" "That perhaps the police have allegiance to something other than the truth." "She never believed Eduard's death was suicide." "And for the record, neither do i." "I can make it rhyme." "You can't use it in that context." "You need to move through the piece." "Kafka, come and sit with us." "No, I'm looking for some people." "Insect people." "You may be onto something, Kafka." "What?" "Meeting women." "You've discovered a way in and a way out." "You enter dramatically, spilling over with concern for a lost friend." "Which appeals to their caring nature." "If things go poorly, you make a hasty retreat, citing the need to look elsewhere as your motive." "It's perfect." "Yes, it would be perfect... if that were my intent." "What other intent is there?" " Gabriela has disapperared." " You think we don't know that?" "Why did you go to the police?" " What did you tell them?" " I told them that I was concerned for her safety." "It's a little bit late for that." "Be concerned for us." "What about her?" "What about concern for her?" "Any one of us might be next." "I won't be next." " We intend to stay together." " Very close from now on." " They get you alone and then they strike." " You don't want to be alone now do you?" " Listen, listen." "We found the bomb." " What?" "Gabriela found it, in Eduard's apartment." "Unopened." "Well obviously unopened!" "If it were opened, it wouldn't exist any longer, would it?" "It would go boom within moments!" " I suppose you turned it over to the police." " No, I have it in my apartment." "Where it does no one any good." "Or any harm." "Eduard, Gabriela, Kafka." "All from the same office." "It might be a cover-up." "Of incredible proportions." "It could be fraud or embezzlement." "It's always about money." "Clearly, there's no shortage of theories." "What's needed are facts." "We need to know more about why Eduard was summoned to the Castle." "Excuse me sir." "I understand you have Eduard Raban's file." "I do." "I wonder if I might look at it for an address for the family?" "I thought I might write to them." "No" "No entry for family" "Was there something else?" "No." "Well it's just that I feel a sense of obligation." "He was a very dear friend" "If there's some way that I could help in closing up his affairs." "There's only one report to complete." "I shall be doing that myself and submitting it to the Castle tomorrow." "I see." "So there's just the Erlinger claim." "The Orlac chaim." "Oh, yes" "Well, thank you, sir." "Kafka" "You're too sensitive." "Yes, sir." "Let the poor fellow rest in peace." "If it was accounts you wanted, why did you ask for employees?" "Orlac is an account?" "A factory in the northern mountains." "One of our best customers." "Without a proper request, I am not obliged to do this, you know." "But I will make an exception on this one occasion." "At least the file is current, even if the employee isn't." "That place has so many accidents it's a good thing the type of peasants who live up there don't seem to have any difficulty propagating their race." "All these in the last year?" "Terrible accidents up there." "Cave-ins primarily." "They can't even recover the bodies." "Awful way to die." "Yes." "It wouldn't have been so bad, but even the Medical Officer for the district was killed." "His picture is missing I must make a note of that." " Was that Dr. Murnau?" " Yes." "Dr. Murnau was the bravest of men." "A true visionary." "He spent an entire career in those backwaters, with no regard for personal gain." "A great loss." "And this list is the clerks who worked on Orlac claims?" "Yes." "Is your friend's name among them?" "No" "Then he only worked on the one case." "His name will appear when your Chief sends me the final summation." "When a file has been sent to the Castle" "Is it possible to recall it for review?" "Of course not!" "Only by a Director of the firm." "Who would want to let in all kinds of riff-raff off the streets?" "What's the point of keeping records if they're not available for inspection?" "These laws have been with us for centuries." "How can you doubt them?" "Maybe I should apply to our Directors." "You do not summon them, They summon you." "And this of course hardly ever happens, if at all." "Where do the files go to, when they go to the Castle?" "We're a medical insurance firm, aren't we?" "They go to the Medical Records Division." "Then perhaps I should apply to the head of Medical Records." "It so happens, my dear simple sir... ..that the head of Medical Records at the Castle is one of the Directors of this firm." "Please!" " I'm trying to finish my work." " You've actually started some?" "Just because he's done absolutely nothing all day." "He doesn't want me to show him up is all it is." "Assistants!" "You'd think you'd dropped from the sky for all the care that was taken in choosing you." "It's not our fault." "We're naturally nervous." "And we're upset too." "What is it now?" " Everything I say, he disagrees with." " Everything, I do." "I think it's because we've been together so long" "That our personalities are overflowing into each another." " And vice-versa." " Horrible." "How would you like to be in a situation like that?" "Horrible" "Look, why don't you both go and take lunch?" "Go on!" "The Chief Clerk would like this to be ready tomorrow morning." "He said it should only take you an extra hour" "Or two" "Come on!" "There's nobody up there." "Going now." "That's it." "All right." "You've done very well." "Never mind them." "They'll be attended to." "Watch your step." "Excellent job." "This won't go unrecognised." "And I'm sure you'll be well rewarded." "Almost there." "One final task." "You'll like this gentleman." "Did you think you'd be safe back home in your little burrow?" "No matter how deep a hole you dig for yourself" " you leave a trail - for us to follow." "Yeah, we're taking you to the Castle." "So it was you." "We thought it was Burgel." "Burgel?" "Burgel?" "Would never go near the Castle." "Oh, you should look on this as a great favour." " Yes, we answer directly to the highest authority." " Very high." "We deal with the person in charge." "Who might that be?" " We don't know." " We're not allowed to say." "Ooh." "Shall we?" "For all your incompetence, I was beginning to think you were at least loyal to me." "You're very good actors." " Yes!" " Thank you!" " Now when we get to the Castle we suggest" " Don't make a fuss." "It would spoil the not unfavourable impression" "You dirty pig!" "That you've created in other respects." "To be quite honest we don't quite understand why you bothered to pursue this in the first place" "I thought it was pursuing me." "It's always about you, isn't it, Kafka?" "You know, every time I see those two escorting someone the next time I see this person is in my cemetery." "Isn't that a coincidence?" "I should like to go to the Castle, but I think it's best to go alone." "There are less conspicuous ways to enter the Castle." "Are you sure you wouldn't prefer going through official channels?" "Official channels?" "I get nowhere with official channels." "They go round and round in circles." "I'm flattered, of course, to be taken into your confidence" "Even without knowing all the details." "Even though I'm sure they're very interesting." "To see such determination is reward enough for me." "Have you ever been inside the Castle?" "No" "I was restoring some stones up here the other day when I found this" "Here" "Hold on" "An empty tomb?" "The Castle gates were blockaded in the time of the Great Plague." "It's an escape route." "Don't get stuck!" "Good luck" " You mentioned that you admired my work" " Yes" "Would you do me a favour?" "What?" "Another one?" "Well." "If I don't see you later, would you go to my house, find my notebooks... and destroy them?" "All my manuscripts... they are none of them finished." "Just burn them, all right?" "What an extraordinary request." "A true friend would do it." "Not necessarily!" "A wife would!" "Are you lost?" "I'm looking for Medical Records." "That's the yellow floor" "Of course, the yellow floor" "Have I seen you before?" "No" "I'm new here" "Grab him!" "Get his papers" "I'm talking to you!" "Get his papers!" "How many more of these tonight?" "Three, I think" "We have been waiting" "Yeah well getting him here has not been exactly easy" "Help us get him prepared then" "All a bit much, don't you think?" "Uh, yes." "It's the noise that gets to me." "And the smell." "Yes." "Quite." "You don't belong here, do you?" "No, actually, no." "I was on my way to the Medical Records Division." "I was just going that way myself." "You pig!" "Let me go!" "Now, Miss Rossman, I want to chat with you." "Miss Rossman?" "Do something" "How do you feel, Miss Rossman?" " I know you." " Better." "When it all comes down you'll be the first to die." "And you." "We don't seem to be making much progress today." "You'll hang by the guts." " You are incompetent." " Let me try something else." " What are you doing?" " Something's wrong." "What were they doing in there?" "Just between you and me, I'm only a supervisor." "I'm on a salary like anyone else." "They've been trying to come up with, I don't know how to put this a more efficient person." "I'm not sure that I follow you." "What makes one person more prone to anger or happiness or certain colour combinations?" "It's clear, the chemical balance can be altered" "But in how many ways?" "In what measure?" "It is an impure science." "Yes." "I've come across some of their impurities." "Haven't we all?" "They do what they're told, I gather" "Is that what more efficient people do?" "First physiology, then ideology." "Are you sure this is the right way?" "I really have to see the head of Medical Records." " He did summon you then?" " Yes" "Interesting." "There was another man, a clerk from the claims office... a bit like you... summoned Monday but never arrived." "No?" "Why not?" "They killed him" "Why?" "Apparently, from what I heard, it was bookkeeping." "Bookkeeping?" "Yes" "You see, he was accidentally sent the wrong piece of paper" "Piece of paper?" "How could that matter?" "It authorised compensation for a death that had not yet occurred." "Orlac" "Yes, Kafka" "Workers have wives and children, you know." "Unfortunately, it's still the only way to ensure future workers." "We find it best when an insurance company like yours gives them a small cash payment when they should happen to lose their husbands." "People want an industrial age, people want progress." "We give it to them." "That's not progress, that's body-snatching." "The 'resurrection business', I think they used to call it." "I even resurrected myself, didn't I?" "Dr. Murnau." "The heroic martyr of Orlac." "Yes, well we had to move on from there, find our subjects elsewhere." "People who aren't in a position to object." "Like Gabriela Rossman?" "Or people who are already guilty of one thing or the other." "Why do you involve yourself with revolutionaries and anarchists?" "I should much have preferred it had been one of your own manuscripts." "I mean it, Kafka." "Your work has been an inspiration to me, what I've seen of it." "Why don't you publish more often." "Is it a certain laziness with regard to composition?" "Or are you just one of those writers with, how shall I say" "No use for an audience?" "Thank you." "You despise someone like me, because you despise the modern." "But you're at the very forefront of what is modern." "You write about it." "You document it." "Unlike you, though, I have chosen to embrace it." "That's our biggest headache." "Understanding the human mind." "Well you must admit at least we have that in common." "You and I have nothing in common." "I've tried to write nightmares, and you've built one." "Yes, you have your tools, I have mine." "But we are men of vision, you and I." "That's what sets us apart from the great faceless mass." "Faceless?" "There's a face!" "And what will you say when the great faceless mass comes calling on its own initiative?" "What will you say to them?" "Oh, a crowd is easier to control than an individual." "A crowd has a common purpose." "The purpose of the individual is always in question." "That's what you're trying to eliminate, isn't it." "Everything that makes one human being different from another." "But you'll never never reach a man's soul through a lens." "That rather depends which end of the microscope you're on, doesn't it." "Stop him!" "Boys!" "Get my feet, quickly!" "Get my feet!" "Get my feet!" "My feet!" "You idiots!" "Get up and stop this!" "Where've you been?" " Just behind you." "Did you get him?" " No, but I will." "He's gone." "Kafka." "You had told us that Miss Rossman had disappeared." " Well, she has been found." " Yes." "We are recommending for the report a verdict of suicide." "What would be your opinion?" "Suicide." "I'd have to agree." "She was perhaps despondent over the loss of her beloved Mr. Raban." "Yes" "That would account for it." "You are..." "You're very helpful, Kafka." "You're early, for once." "The Chief Clerk would like to see you in his office." "You wanted to see me, sir?" "I thought you should know, I've received two communications." "The first summoning you to the Castle" "The second countermanding the first." "Did they say why, sir?" "My superiors have no obligation to explain their directives to me." "And certainly not to you." "I see, sir." "I just thought" "Today might be different." "And why should today be different?" "Dearest Father" "I had always believed that it is better to know the truth than to live in ignorance." "Now I shall find out if I was right." "I can no longer deny that I am part of the world around me." "Nor can I deny despite our differences that I remain your son." "And so I hope only that these late, perhaps insignificant, realisations might reassure us both a little" "and make our living and our dying" "easier."