“Willi, come quickly!” Trudi Bauer said with alarm not two hours later as he stepped back into the apartment.
He put down his cane and took off his scarf and coat. He saw the peremptoriness that had come over his wife’s pallid face. “What’s happened, dear?”
“In here.” She drew him into the bedroom.
She stood over their dresser and pointed to the glass bowl on top, and to the brass key lying next to it.
The trunk key.
“Did you happen to place that there?” she asked.
Willi looked at her and shrugged. “No.”
“You didn’t happen to go inside the trunk when I went out to the market earlier?”
“I haven’t been in there since the last time we opened it the other day. What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that when I tidied up the room this morning, the key was where we always keep it. In the bowl. Not on the dresser.”
As he began to absorb the importance of what she was telling him, the lines around Willi Bauer’s eyes deepened. “You’re certain of this, Trudi?”
“As certain as I am of my own name. Look, the counter is perfectly dusted. I cleaned it earlier. I would have noticed it here. And anyway, that is where we always keep it. It’s not a thing to be uncertain of.”
“No, it’s not.” Willi nodded, knotting his brow with concern and scratching his white mustache. “You’re saying someone was in here?”
“This afternoon I left the door open a crack when I went downstairs to talk to Mrs. Bainbridge for a short while. I didn’t have my door key handy. I was only gone a few minutes. And when I came back up, Emma and her father were standing right outside our door.”
“If I’m not mistaken, it is their door too,” Willi said.
“Yes, but you would had to have seen them. He was rigid as a board. It was like we came upon them completely unexpectedly and caught him in the act of something.”
“We?”
“Mrs. Shearer and I. She was doing laundry downstairs. You would had to have seen his reaction. He muttered something about them going outside, but neither of them were wearing their coats. You were out. You know how chilly it was today. Would you take a child out in the cold in a flimsy dress? If I didn’t know better I would have thought they were coming from our apartment.”
“Our apartment?” Willi’s eyes widened.
“Yes. And then I found this on the dresser.” She held up the key. “This is not good, Willi.”
“No, it is not good at all.” He sat on the bed. “Is anything missing?” he asked. “Have you checked?”
“Of course. I went through the trunk as soon as I came home. Everything is there. Completely undisturbed. But I’m still worried. He’s been snooping around since I caught him over those shredded messages in the trash.”
Willi rested himself on the edge of the bed. He put his thumb and forefinger to his forehead in thought. Then nodded pensively. “This man is becoming far too much of a nuisance.”
“A pest is a nuisance, Willi. This Mossman has become a threat. And threats…” She looked at him with a steeled determination in her eyes. “Must be dealt with.”
“Please, Trudi … let’s not get ahead of ourselves on this. He’s a nobody. A nobody with a fancy degree and a felony conviction around his neck. Who would possibly believe a word he has to say on anything? He barely has a roof over his head.”
“Still, he is no one’s fool, Willi. You are underestimating this. And he saw the shredded messages last month. Who knows what he’s put together. Now this … There’s too much at stake, Willi. We have to find out what he knows.”
Willi looked up at her. “That’s a big step, Trudi. But yes, I agree.”
“You are always slow to take the difficult steps, Willi. This must be done.”
Willi exhaled a breath from his nose and nodded. For a moment he seemed lost in thought. “He and his wife have no hope of reconciling, do they?”
Trudi shook her head. “From what she tells me, no.”
“Then there is a way. Still, in the meantime there is also a way we can be sure if he was in here or not.”
Trudi looked at him.
“You said he was with Emma, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but Willi, he’s her father. Who knows where her loyalties lie now?”
“Her loyalties are with us. Do not doubt it. Our darling Emma will always talk to her Aunt Trudi and Uncle Willi,” Willi said with a knowing smile. “Especially when there is a big slice of apple cake to entice her with, my dear.”
“Yes, we must do whatever it takes, my husband, I agree. There is far too much at stake now for us not to be sure.”
“Do not worry yourself.” He patted her shoulders. “I have a way.”