V

seeing that the woman had now returned with the candle and was kneeling before the chest looking for the paper, “couldn’t I help your wife to look for it?” The Superintendent smilingly shook his head: “As I said before, I don’t want to make any parade of official secrecy before you, but to let you look through these papers yourself⁠—no, I can’t go so far as that.” Now stillness fell in the room, only the rustling of the papers was to be heard; it looked, indeed, for a few minutes, as if the Superintendent were dozing. A faint rapping on the door made K. turn round. It was of course the assistants. All the same they showed already some of the effects of their training, they did not rush at once into the room, but whispered at first through the door which was slightly ajar: “It’s cold out here.” “Who’s that?” asked the Superintendent, starting up. “It’s only my assistants,” replied K. “I don’t know where to ask them to wait for me, it’s too cold outside and here they would be in the way.” “They won’t disturb me,” said the Superintendent indulgently. “Ask them to come in. Besides I know them. Old acquaintances.” “But they’re in my way,” K. replied bluntly, letting his gaze wander from the assistants to the Superintendent and back again, and finding on the faces of all three the same smile. “But seeing you’re here as it is,” he went on experimentally, “stay and help the Superintendent’s lady there to look for a document with the word Land Surveyor underlined in blue pencil.” The Superintendent raised no objection. What had not been permitted to K. was allowed to the assistants; they threw themselves at once on the papers, but they did not so much seek for anything as rummage about in the heap, and while one was spelling out a document the other would immediately snatch it out of his hand. The woman meanwhile knelt before the empty chest, she seemed to have completely given up looking, in any case the candle was standing quite far away from her.

“The assistants,” said the Superintendent with a self-complacent smile, which seemed to indicate that he had the lead, though nobody was in a position even to assume this, “they’re in your way then? Yet they’re your own assistants.” “No,” replied K. coolly, “they only ran into me here.”