Page 30 of One Last Step

Lukas blinks.“It’s afternoon, Elena.”

“You said before dinner.It’s hours until dinner.”

“Well…”

“Elena, darling!”

Elena sighs heavily, then plasters a fake smile and turns to the approaching Margot Keller.“Margot!Lovely to see you.”

Lukas and I share a look.He smiles and says under his breath, “I believe I’ll try to arrange to be somewhere else right now.”

“Good idea,” I concur.

I leave to find the children.The adults are too preoccupied to take care of them, and while I am dying to find answers to the question I now know to be at the center of this mystery, I can’t leave the children to their own devices.

The question of Nazi spy memorabilia, along with the question of Claudia Becker's true identity, must remain a mystery.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The children aren’t in Sophie’s room.I sign and put my hands on my hips as I look around at the mess.“Tomorrow, you’re cleaning this room before you go anywhere,” I mutter.

In the meantime, I should probably find the two of them before they get up to more trouble.I have an idea where they might try to find that trouble too.The journal is in my room, but they read enough to have an idea of where to find the hidden "treasures" in the Museum.

A thought strikes me.Perhaps instead of stopping the children, I should allow them to play their game.The “treasures” are no doubt the additional items Claudia is looking for.Maybe this is when I can keep my eyes and ears open and learn something that could help her.

I take the elevator back down to the ground floor and walk into Exhibit One.As I suspect, the children are there, but they’re not hunting like I expect them to be.They’re crouched down behind an old cabinet clock—not the automata clock they love so much but another one with a simple engraving on its cabinet in lieu of compartments and automata.

The room is empty save for them.I wonder why the Museum emptied out so fast until I hear the voices coming from Exhibit Two.

Margot and Elena are arguing again.I move quietly to the children but don’t distract them.I’m rather interested in what the two of them have to say.

“It’s bullshit,” Margot says.She’s dropped all pretense of class.“They act like it’s our job to fix wrongs that happened before we were even born.And what the hell does Israel want with them anyway?”

“Will you keep it down?”Elena hisses.“And what is it to you, anyway?They’re not looking for the money, they’re looking for the clocks.Myclocks.”

“They’ll be looking for me soon enough,” Margot promises.“Why the hell did you let her into your house?”

“I didn’t,” Elena says, irritated.“Sophie did.”

“You’re ten-year-old granddaughter has a key to the museum?”Margot asks incredulously.

“She does in case of emergencies, but no, I mean Gustaf let her in and Sophie led her upstairs to me.”

Margot scoffs.“Gustaf.I don’t even know why you hired him.”

“Teenagers are cheap labor.And I didn’t think bloody Interpol would be looking for me.”

“I told you that you need to think about this stuff, Elena.Damn it.I swear to God if this comes around to me, I’ll drag you straight to hell with me.”

“Children.”

All three of us flinch and turn toward the voice.The children flinch again when they see me.

Lukas frowns quizzically at me as he approaches.“What are you doing here?It’s not polite to eavesdrop on other people’s conversations.”

From the exhibit next door, I hear Margot say, “Damn it.Now we’ve been overheard again.Really, this is just too much.”

Heels click on the floor as the two women return to the first exhibit.Sophie and Luc hang their heads in embarrassment.

---