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two crimestories
café. We followed him.
He noticed us. We stared
at him, and he stared
back. Then he turned on
his heel and disappeared
back in the direction he’d
come from. We went into
the café he’d been walking
toward, thinking that
Silvana’s mother might be
waiting for him, but she
was nowhere to be seen.
That
afternoon,
we
decided
to
become
detectives. We wanted
to keep tabs on Herr
Schneider around the
clock, but had no idea how
to manage that during the
night hours. So we agreed
topostponeour plans until
the next day. And then
Herr Schneider surprised
us by actually coming
to work. Along with the
director, he showed up
for class, instead of the
student teacher who had
been subbing for him
in our German lessons.
The director explained
that Herr Schneider was
now
fully
recovered.
He hesitated, mumbled
something, and finally
left. Once he was gone,
Herr Schneider said that
he was sorry. He knew
about the strange things
people were saying about
him, and we should rest
assured that none of it
was true. He nodded at
Silvana, who shyly nodded
back and then proceeded
to spend the entire hour
staring at the floor. During
recess, we found out that
he had spent a long time
talking to her and her
father, and both of them
were convinced that he
had never had anything
to do with Silvana’s
mother. It was all a stupid
misunderstanding,
and
he was just as puzzled
by her disappearance as