The Stranger From Berlin by Melissa Amateis

Author:Melissa Amateis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Published: 2021-08-10T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

By mid-morning the next day, Max had finished putting the last of Dietrich’s books in the cottage’s glass-encased bookshelf. He’d removed many of Mrs Stanwick’s novels to make room, and the effect was stunning. The ornate silver letters caught the sun through the glass and sparkled like the jewels they were.

He glanced at his watch. Nearly 10 a.m. and time for the morning news. He turned up the volume on the wireless and listened to reports of Allied forces near Rome pushing back the Germans. Field Marshal Kesselring fought alongside his men, supposedly representative of the fierce German fighting spirit and their refusal to submit. Max grimaced. If only more German people had refused to submit to Hitler’s tyranny, this war might never have happened.

Dwelling on such thoughts only caused the blackness to start seeping in again. He was so very tired of the dark. He wanted light in his life. And when he thought of light, he thought of Jenni.

Yet something was troubling her. What had she said?

There isn’t much anyone can do.

What a familiar phrase. But what could she possibly mean? When he truly thought about it, what did he know about this woman? What were her personal struggles, her fears, her demons? If only they could help each other somehow. Except that would require them to share their secrets…

The phone jangled. He picked it up, surprised and pleased to hear Bruce’s voice on the other end.

‘How are you doing, pal?’ Bruce said. ‘Surviving in the sticks?’

The colloquialism confused him. ‘Pardon?’

Bruce laughed. ‘Are you getting by all right in that nice small town?’

Max opened his mouth to give Bruce an earful of just how ‘nice’ this small town was when something made him shut it again. He didn’t want to drag Bruce into this bloody mess.

‘Oh, its fine, Bruce.’

‘Good, good. Say, I got some news you might be interested to hear. Elijah Goldberg is gone.’

Max frowned. ‘Gone? What do you mean? Did he leave the university?’

‘No. I mean he’s vanished. Disappeared. No one knows where he went.’

‘He always was rather erratic. When did this happen?’

‘A few days after you went to Meadow Hills.’

Max’s stomach dropped. This meant it might very well be Goldberg behind the theft of the diary and the vandalism. It made sense. Was Goldberg the one Jenni had seen at the cottage and in the crowd?

‘Are they looking for him?’ he asked.

‘The university is making enquiries, and they told the Lincoln Police Department about it. But since there was no evidence of foul play, they don’t see anything too alarming, especially considering Goldberg’s past actions.’

‘Yes,’ Max murmured, his brain swirling with this new information. He tried to remember Jenni’s description of the man who’d supposedly taken the diary. Short and stocky, glasses, dark hair, a beard. Goldberg didn’t have a beard the last time he saw him, but that could have easily changed. And the other descriptions fit. Plus, Goldberg had a motive.

‘Just thought you’d want to know about it,’ Bruce said. ‘But

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