Then he asked me about my health, if I was taking medication. I said no, not anything like that. After a while, he said, "as far as I’m concerned, you’re fit for the residence. I’m sure you’ll like it there. How could you complain? You’ve been fortunate enough to avoid prison. Which is not to say you’ll avoid the consequences of your act. A great deal of suffering awaits you. You will have time galore to meditate on the deed you have done, and measure its devastating effect on your psyche."

When I left the doctor’s office, I saw Mr. Recker in the hallway. He said that everything went smoothly in Brussels. He asked me if I had read the contract. I said that it looked fine to me. Then he asked me to pack my stuff and wait in my room for a sign.

An hour later, I sat in the back of a blue Mercedes, riding to the ultimate destination. Mr. Recker took the A4 direction Bad Hersfeld, then Eisenach. I watched the German countryside through the window. I wanted to ask Mr. Recker if he could see it cheating us, making us believe that we were cruising through it, while it really was revolving, circling around us with the placidity of a vulture. But he seemed concentrated on his driving, and I didn’t say anything. We exited the highway at Herleshausen, drove through Wildeck-Obersuhl and into a forest. We had been driving an hour and a half when Mr. Recker engaged into a private property. The entrance sign read:

"Haupthof - Privé Clinic"

"Wilkumme"

It was an eighteenth century chateau shrouded in a big property. Dr. Kustel was waiting for us in the yard. I didn’t see him leaving Frankfurt, so I wondered how he got there before us. He took me to the garden, an Italian abbey courtyard awash with floral compositions. The doctor explained to me that the property used to be a hotel. When Mr. Recker inherited it, it was derelict and close to bankruptcy. The conversion to a specialized clinic had given a new life to the place. And Dr. Kustel pointed at the ancient stucco shelters in front of us, with polished bas-relief illustrating biblical scenes, as if making a point.