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Zöe Beck
there and gawking, until
we realized that we were
really late for our first
class. Thorsten wanted
us to wait for him. On
the way, we discussed
what we were going to
tell Herr Schneider. We
could hardly throw open
the classroom door and
tell everybody why we
were tardy, considering
that Silvana was in that
class. I suggested we get
him out of the classroom
somehow, maybe even
by calling him from the
secretary’s office. Michael
and Thorsten nodded:
Michael
because
he
didn’t have a better idea,
and Thorsten because his
aunt worked in the office,
which is why he always
had it easy whenever it
came to getting his tardies
excused.
We ran into Cem on our
way to the office. He was
just stepping out of the
bathroom, which is where
he always went during
German class because
he couldn’t stand Herr
Schneider. Cem wanted
to come with us to the
office, so as we walked,
we filled him in on the
news
that
Silvana’s
mother had drowned in
the Judenteich. Then we
told Thorsten’s aunt about
what had happened, and
she immediately grabbed
the
microphone
and
paged Herr Schneider.
After that, Thorsten’s
aunt
called
Silvana’s
apartment, but no one
answered. They briefly
considered calling her
father over at the chemical
factory. Cem knew the
number by heart, since
his father also worked
at Oker Chemical, but
Herr Schneider thought
the police had surely