TE17 Mysterious Montenegro

Alta Ifland

presence around. He began to pace up and down nervously, and when his watch showed seven thirty, he entered the building.

No one in the main lobby. No one in the hall. According to the directory, the doctors’ offices were on the second floor. He wasn’t sure what was safer: the elevator or the stairs. If he took the elevator, someone would surely notice. If he took the stairs, he ran the risk of running into one of the cleaning women. He decided to take the stairs. No one on the stairs either. The entire building seemed empty. When he arrived on the second floor he noticed, with a sigh of relief, that the doors had all been opened, as if the offices were expecting a visitor. He entered the first open one—“Dr. Mara Ursu,” read the inscription on the door— and began to pull on the drawers. None of them budged—they were all locked. He looked around to see if he could find any letterhead, but the only piece of paper he came across was a laundry list under a stack of women’s magazines. Finally, when he was about to leave, he spotted a rubber stamp near the sink. He grabbed it, but before he could read what was inscribed on it, he heard next to him:

“Have you people no shame?”

Startled, he raised his head and found himself facing a plump nurse with a red nose and puffy cheeks.

“Give me that!” she ordered, and mechanically, he handed her the rubber stamp.

“Really, have you no shame? You are the third one I found in the past two days trying to pinch this. Look at you, young and 188