Trafika Europe 9/10 - UK in Europe

two crimestories

contacted Silvana’s father by now. It was finally decided to call Silvana into the office, where she could wait until her father picked her up. We hung around the hallway until Herr Schneider came back with Silvana. She was pale and had rings under her eyes, which was the way she had started looking recently, even before her mother had vanished a week ago. She would not make eye contact with us, keeping her eyes fixed on the floor instead. It was better that way. Michael, Thorsten and Cem stared at her, jaws dropped, and I’m sure I didn’t make a better impression. That ended up being the last time we saw Silvana. At first, they said she’d be coming back after the funeral. Then they said she was sick and would

be coming back next week. The week after next. Before the break in order to pick up her grades. But she never returned. Some said that her father went back to Italy. Others thought he moved to another city. We never found out for sure. Just like the police never figured out who murdered Silvana’s mother. Maybe they never really searched hard for the murderer. At least, they never questioned us. Twomonths before that, in March 1989, I celebrated the coolest birthday in my fourteen-year life. I had been allowed to invite my friends to a cook-out at the Grane Reservoir, and for the first time ever, my parents got my gift right: the new LP from New

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