Page 105 of Engulfing Emma

We walk up the cobblestone sidewalk. Emma goes to knock on the door, but Evie pulls her hand away. “I want to do it.”

Emma steps aside and Evie knocks. Then she knocks again. She is disappointed someone doesn’t answer the door.

“We can always come back tomorrow,” Emma says.

“One more time,” Evie says, knocking louder this time.

The door opens, and a woman about our age talks to us in German.

“Do you speak English?” Evie asks.

“Why yes I do,” she says, smiling at Evie. “How can I help you?”

Evie pulls the strip of pictures of Emma and Stefan out of her pocket. She holds it out to the woman. “The man in this picture is my father. His name is Stefan Schmidt. I’m trying to find him.”

The woman shakes her head without bothering to look at the photos. “My brother passed away several years ago.”

“We know,” Emma says. “Please accept our condolences.”

“It could be him, though,” Evie says. “Can you take a look?”

She gives us a skeptical look before gazing at the pictures. “That man is not my brother.”

“Are you sure, ma’am?” I ask. “Maybe you should take another look.”

“Wait here,” she says, leaving the door open as she retrieves a framed photo off the wall. She hands it to Evie. “This is Stefan. He doesn’t look anything like the photos you have.”

Evie compares the two and nods. “You’re right. It’s not him.”

“We’re very sorry to have bothered you,” I say.

“It’s not a problem. I hope you find him, young lady.”

“Thank you,” Evie says over her shoulder as we return to the car. There is a big smile on her face. “I told you guys it wasn’t him.”

“I’m glad it wasn’t,” Emma says. “But that doesn’t mean he’ll be one of the other three.”

“He will,” Evie says.

“Evelyn,” her mom warns.

“What? Aren’t you always telling me to be optimistic and have faith?”

I raise my eyebrows at Emma.“Youtell her that?”

“You don’t think I can be optimistic?” she asks.

I laugh. “You’re not serious, are you?”

“I’m optimistic,” she pouts.

“Name one thing you’re optimistic about, Emma.”

She stares at me as she tries to think of one. “I … well …”

“When you guys are done bickering, do you mind if we go find the next one?” Evie says.

Emma gets out the notes she made from the email I got from Ethan Stone. “There’s only one more we can try today. The others are too far away.” She holds up a piece of paper. “IfthisStefan isn’t the one, we’ll try this guy in Nuremberg tomorrow and then the one from Stuttgart.”

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