Shining Through Page #2

but flunked out of Berlitz.

He also has a lousy disposition

and runs through secretaries

like a bowling ball through tenpins.

Incidentally,

we call him the pallbearer

because he rarely cracks a smile.

- Come in.

- He also dislikes women who wear hats.

Hi.

I saw you on the street this morning,

with that speaker?

Yeah...

What did you say to him?

I just suggested he might be more

comfortable speaking somewhere else.

You were great.

Reminded me of Jimmy Stewart

in The Mortal Storm.

Did you ever see it?

No.

Is a great film.

Whas with the blackout?

You expecting Hitler to bomb us tonight?

Sometimes I think

better in the dark.

Ed Leland, Linda Voss.

90 words a minute, bilingual dictation,

works a Mimeograph,

and speaks German with the

accent of a Berlin butcher's wife.

- How's that for a last-minute save?

- Berlin butcher's wife?

Taught by her grandmother,

who's from Berlin.

But she wasn't married to a butcher.

My grandfather owned a button factory.

Till it burned down.

Your... your grandmother,

did she insist you speak...

German?

She doesn't speak English.

She's...

She's lived here for...

My sixth-grade teacher

used to do that.

- Beg your pardon? - You know,

start a question and not finish it.

Like

"The capital of Indiana is...?"

She's been in this

country for 18 years.

So my question is, if she's lived here

for 18 years, why doesn't she speak...

English.

She prefers German.

- Does she prefer Germany?

- She's Jewish.

- You're Jewish?

- Half.

Is that a problem

in this company?

No, no! It just means we're half-sure

you're not a Nazi spy.

He must like you,

you make him laugh.

She'll be fine. Could you stand

up and turn around, please?

- Why should I do that?

- Because you want the job.

And I asked you to.

Is a test I like to give.

Well, I'll take it sitting down.

What I was gonna ask you to do

is stand up, turn around,

close your eyes and tell me what

you see here. Is an observation test.

Now, do you really have

a problem with that?

Pictures of sailboats and polo ponies,

fancy books and diplomas,

stuffed fish on the wall,

calendar set to the wrong date,

bookcases that need dusting,

carpets that need cleaning.

And two Harvard guys who are

surprised a girl who needs ajob

won't be treated like a slave.

Are you always like this?

Forgot to tell you,

my other half's Irish.

Lethal combination.

It didn't take me long to sense there was

more to Ed Leland than met the eye.

In February of 1940,

one of the switchboard girls

accidentally tapped into his private line,

and heard a voice that she swore

was Franklin Delano Roosevels.

In March, Jimmy in the mailroom caught

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