At first, they put Konrad's absentmindedness down to an immoderate fondness for alcohol. For years, he had been a benign parasite on the Koch family. And they, in their turn, had used him as the mood took them. But when the villa burns down because of Konrad's forgetfulness, Elvira, the matriarch of...

At first, they put Konrad's absentmindedness down to an immoderate fondness for alcohol. For years, he had been a benign parasite on the Koch family. And they, in their turn, had used him as the mood took them. But when the villa burns down because of Konrad's forgetfulness, Elvira, the matriarch of the Koch family, puts him on a strict regime.