August Gerner’s turn from caretaker to burglar ends in arrest, as the place he is supposed to watch becomes the route into a stolen-goods operation. The episode follows his growing resentment of his circumstances, his invitation into a burglary gang, and the mistaken confidence with which he and Gusti believe they can profit from the theft without being caught.

The encounter in the yard

On a Saturday night, August Gerner notices burglars prowling around the yard. When the gang spots him, its members flee over a wall, leaving one man behind. Rather than report them or drive them away, Gerner calls after the departing men and says he wants to join them. His offer sounds suspicious to the remaining burglar, who worries that the caretaker might be setting a trap. Gerner insists that he lives there and has been waiting for something to come his way. The man eventually accepts the explanation and follows him across the yard.

Gerner makes the invitation concrete by taking the burglar into his own building. He rings the downstairs bell, opens the door, and presents himself as the person in charge of the premises. Gusti, his wife, is initially startled, but she welcomes the visitor inside. The contrast establishes the unusual security of Gerner’s position: as caretaker, he can admit a burglar openly, while the stranger has to decide whether that apparent welcome is genuine. What begins as a chance encounter thus gives Gerner an entry into the very criminal activity his post might have enabled him to prevent.

A chance at legitimate work

Later, a tall young visitor arrives to speak with Gerner about business. Their conversation turns to the familiar idea that one must take risks to get ahead. Gerner and the visitor trade inherited sayings and examples from their own lives and neighborhood; Gusti listens, pleased that the guest has stayed and that Gerner cannot dismiss him as someone she has frightened away. Detectives then arrive with insurance officers. They ask Gerner to assist with inquiries into the burglaries behind the building and to take part in a special surveillance operation, with the company and insurance firm covering the costs.

The offer briefly places Gerner on the opposite side of the crime: he is asked to help watch for the burglars. But the discussion and the company’s presence do not keep him from the gang. After the officials leave, the visitor remains with Gerner and Gusti, and the three spend hours together. The visitor’s attention and opinions impress Gerner; afterward, Gerner regards the young man as capable and himself as a worn-out old man who may still have something to offer. Gusti and the visitor also develop a private attachment, later reflected in letters from him. This connection becomes important when the burglary plan resumes: the official offer of surveillance has not made Gerner an ally of the police, and his household is already entangled with someone connected to the operation.

Gerner joins the burglary

Gerner considers trying the job without the other men. He argues that the building’s ground-floor position and his home’s location beside the yard give him an advantage, while partnerships invite trouble. Gusti says she cannot help because of her varicose veins and denies that fear is the reason. Though she outwardly assents, the narration makes clear that she inwardly opposes the plan. Gerner nevertheless decides to proceed on his own, with Gusti shut in the cellar with him.

As they prepare to begin, someone knocks. The repeated, soft knocking first leaves them uncertain about who is outside; then Gerner recognizes a familiar signal and opens the door to the tall visitor. Gusti greets him warmly, and Gerner realizes that the visitor’s arrival is not a coincidence. Before Gerner can settle back into the job, three more men knock and join them. He feels that he has lost control in his own house, but he decides to work with the group that night and considers warning the police if they intrude on his affairs again. His complaint that the men are exploiters is especially ironic: he resents having to share the proceeds even as he continues to participate.

The group works for two hours in the cellar. They carry most of their haul into Gerner’s flat: coffee, currants, sugar by the sackful, and crates of spirits and wine, amounting to half the storeroom. Gerner is angry at the share taken by the others. Gusti defends her inability to carry more by pointing again to her varicose veins, while Gerner blames her supposed failure to prepare for the work. At the same time, she is attentive to the tall visitor, who takes pride in her in front of the gang. Gerner has moved from admitting a burglar to his building to acting as the organizer of a theft there, yet he still resents the division of its proceeds.

Arrest and exposure

After the others leave, Gerner locks the flat and drinks with Gusti. They sample the different kinds of alcohol systematically, from the early hours until morning, and become too drunk to open up when the doorbell rings around noon. When Gusti finally sends Gerner to the door, detectives enter and find the stolen goods spread through the passage and living room: sacks, crates, bottles, and straw. The supplies that he hoped to keep or sell have become immediate evidence of the theft.

Gusti tells the inspector that they are decent people and suggests that someone else brought the crates into the flat while they slept. Gerner likewise claims not to have heard anyone break in, even as he presents the burglars as the same men who had been operating behind the building. His explanations do not prevent the police from taking them to the station. Gusti tries to retrieve two letters from the tall visitor, but an officer notices and tells her to leave them in place. The letters expose the continuing connection that had developed in the household, while the goods in the flat expose Gerner’s participation in the burglary. The episode establishes his arrest; it does not state the outcome of any later proceedings.

Significance

Gerner’s caretaker role makes the reversal particularly sharp: he has access to the yard, the building, and the flat where the stolen stock is concealed, but that access does not protect him once the police arrive. Nor does the apparent chance to assist a surveillance operation redirect him toward lawful work. Instead, the episode’s recurring language of risk and speculation accompanies a practical gamble, first in welcoming a suspicious stranger and then in attempting a burglary. Gerner imagines that he can control the job and its rewards; the noon discovery turns that confidence into arrest, with his own home serving as the clearest record of what he has done.