Aunt Clara (has sat down in a chair at the table before the sofa). Now they may be here at any time. What time is it, Zindel?
Inspector Zindel. Almost seven. Miss. The Berlin train arrives at ten minutes after six.
Aunt Clara. You were outside, Zindel, weren't you; didn't you hear a carriage on the road?
Inspector Zindel (warms his hands at the fireplace). The wind's from the other way, Miss. One can hear nothing. And it's cold as the deuce! They'll be nice and cold on the way.
Aunt Clara. I do not know how it comes, but the day seems unwilling to break this morning. How does it look outside?
Inspector Zindel. Dark, pitch dark. Not a star, nothing. Only over toward the Sobbowitz woods, it's beginning to dawn a bit.
Aunt Clara (yawning). Of course, that's where the sun must rise.
Inspector Zindel (also yawning). We'll not get much of a peep at it today. It's going to be a gloomy day.
Aunt Clara. Possibly it will snow.
Inspector Zindel. May be, why it's time. Christmas without snow, I can't remember such a thing for the last few years.