The Schellen contract negotiations went smoothly. There were lengthy phone calls and many e-mails. Helen renewed her relations with her former German lawyers; they assigned her a smart young man with experience in the construction sector. She let him handle most of this contract´s details. Since Schellen was Swiss and the project was in Germany, it seemed the right way. Before too long, there was something to sign.
Helen called Rummy. “I think we´re set. Have you been out to the site?”
“Yes. Schellen´s people have already gotten the permits and planning approvals; they started months ago. I´ve got a site plan and seen the work that´s been done with the planning authorities. I went over it with the local engineers, and the site´s been staked. I´ll send you the stuff I´ve got. We´d better not spend a lot more money until we have a contract signed, even though the letter of intent covers us pretty well. You going to come over there with me?”
“Well, I guess I´ve got to go to Geneva and do the signing ritual with Schellen. Then, I´ll meet you in Freiburg. How about Tuesday next? I´ll see if that works for him.”
“Sounds good. Will Schellen be coming, too?”
“Can´t say for sure. Do you want me to suggest it?”
“If he won´t come, he´s got to name a project manager, so we´ll have communications.”
“You getting any rumbles from your contacts?”
“That´s what I mean, Helen. I want to see who he assigns, and I want to see what whoever it is has to say. You need to see the site, and I need to take this guy´s temperature.”
“What method you going to use, Rummy?”
“Well, I´m not talking about under the armpit, if you know what I mean.”
“Hug Doris for me.”
“No trouble there. Bye.”
.oOo.
Helen signed the contracts in Geneva and arranged to meet Schellen´s project manager at the Freiburg site the next day. She flew to Strasbourg, stayed overnight at the Maison Rouge. Rummy picked her up after breakfast and they drove down to Freiburg, stopping for lunch at a café on the Marktplatz.
Over two thousand years old, the city on the Rhine rests in a favorable spot between the Black Forest and the hills of Alsace. Its modern buildings blend with the remaining ancient structures. For centuries a market town, its university now draws as much attention as its commercial and industrial side.
The streets are wide outside the Old City, and even there things like the deep gutters through which the waters of the Rhine flow give the town a special feeling.
They sat on the side of the Marktplatz where the sun had begun to warm the porch of Freiburg´s glorious, flamboyant gothic cathedral. A street singer played her hammer dulcimer in front of the building, singing Czech melodies and nodding at passersby who threw coins into her basket.
“Schellen´s not coming,” Helen said, “but he´s sending his PM. Guy named Dumont. I really want to get moving on this. How far along are you?”
“The engineers staked the site some time ago and last week I walked it with them. I had half a dozen contractors´ representatives out there Monday and yesterday to look it over. Gave them the site plans, specs and stuff. I should have bids from them next week.”
“Did anyone from Constructeurs Sauter show up?”
Rummy shook his head in disbelief. “Yeah. Someone did. Said they wanted to bid. I pointed out that they weren´t on the list of bidders and told him to get off the pitch.”
“Any problems with that?”
“Oh, he was pissed off, all right, but not that much. He was just a flunky.” Rummy changed the subject. “Are you going to separate the earth moving and the building?”
“I don´t see why. Is there something I should know?”
“Not really. I did get some noise from one of the bidders about how he needed to have the whole job; wouldn´t bid if we were going to break it up.”
“Does that mean anything?”
“I don´t think so. Maybe I´m looking for stuff.” Rummy lowered his voice. “I did hear from one of my contacts, though. Seems some of these contractors used to have a deal with IG Bau to let them use a lot of Irish labor, but also so they´d look the other way about a bunch of Polish and Hungarian workmen who weren´t exactly on the up and up.
“The Irishmen were really okay – you know how hard it is to get masons here, and the Irish are EU. But the Poles were definitely under the table – then, at least. They´re EU now, so that wouldn´t matter. But there are always illegals around.
“Was there some kind of payoff?”
“Don´t know right now. I´ll let you know if I hear something. Don´t really have anything else.”
“Thanks, Rummy. Keep at it.”
They spent a sort of idle afternoon going over the site materials and stayed at the Hotel Am Rathaus on the square.
Next morning, Rummy drove them to the site. The access road led into the edge of a wide, grassy field where, over the years, trees had sprung up. At the edge, where the road ended and where they parked, there was a grove of old-growth trees – oaks and beeches. They walked over the ground and Helen gazed about at the lush spring greenery and the purple hills of the Black Forest to the west. The setting was lovely, and she could already visualize how pleasant it would be to swim and sun here. Finally, she shook her head and returned to the here and now of the leafy grove where they had parked.
“I want the construction offices here, Rummy.” Helen said. “We don´t need to take these trees down, and I want to keep as many of those out in the site in place as possible. Move any we have to.”
“I guessed you´d feel that way, Helen. I´ve already staked this area for offices.”
They began walking over the site, checking the stakes against the site plan, discussing adjustments that must be made to accommodate the terrain in those cases where the terrain took priority to the design, which trees to move, which could not be preserved or needed to be taken down as a consequence of age or disease. They weren´t there long before a BMW with Swiss number plates arrived and parked next to their car. A tall, thin, blonde man got out and started toward them.
“That´s the guy who spoke to me at the meeting,” Rummy muttered.
Paul Dumont was pleasant enough, and they continued walking the site, looking at the plans, discussing the locations of things as they went.
Paul turned to Rummy. “M Harms, who are you considering as contractors for the project?”
Rummy winked at Helen, “M Dumont, that´s really up to the boss, Mme Wallace, here. And call me Rummy. Everyone does.”
Dumont nodded at Rummy and turned to Helen with a grin. “Well,” he said, “I failed that test. But who are you considering?”
“Rummy can give you the list, and you´ll find few surprises there. About the only thing that may surprise you is that Constructeurs Sauter isn´t on it.”
“Why is that, Mme Wallace?
“You passed that test, Paul. Call me Helen.” She paused, glanced at the ground and back at him. “I would never consider any contactor who is currently in court for fraud or for failure to perform as contracted. It´s that simple. I don´t have anything against Sauter per se but that´s just the way I operate. I don´t do business with people whose reputations are under a cloud.”
“I see. I´m sure M Schellen will be interested in that response. And when do you think you´ll be making a selection?”
“Rummy said yesterday that he´d have bids – preliminary bids – next week. I think we should be able to select a general contractor in about two weeks; then we can pull the subs together. I want to break ground as soon as possible – no later than next month. That should enable us to get the site work done before cold weather and let us have things under cover before the really bad weather hits.”
Dumont looked at both of them. “And have you engaged a labor consultant, by any chance?”
Helen replied, “I´m not sure what you mean by ‘labor consultant.´”
“It has been our experience at Schellen that we can expedite things considerably by using the services of a labor consultant who can handle such things as disputes, availability of particular skills and relations with various ethnic groups. It reduces down time and saves money. We have always used such a person in the past. I assumed you would do so, as well.”
Rummy took the lead. “Well, we´ve not had a need for such a person so far, Paul. We generally have good relations with our contractors and expect them to handle those matters. Their contracts make it worth their while to get the job done on time and without labor problems. That´s what we´re planning here, as well.”
“We´ll have to see how it works, then, won´t we?” Paul replied and moved on to another topic.