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two crimestories
had been hiding for that
entire week.
We were the only ones
who knew more. We
hadn’t given up our plan
to play detectives just
because Herr Schneider
had come back to school.
But we had only been
able to watch him for a
few hours on Wednesday
and Thursday. Thursday
night around ten, Cem
slipped out of his house
and took over the shift
that was supposed to run
until midnight. He settled
down at his observation
post, on a park bench at
the playground, whichwas
located across the street
from the building where
Schneider’s
apartment
was. Cem fell asleep and
didn’twakeupuntil around
two, when he heard some
strange noises. Footsteps
that squelched against
the concrete sidewalk as
if the soles of the shoes
were damp. Cem watched
as a sopping wet Herr
Schneider hurried by.
Schneider didn’t see him.
Cem didn’t understand
what this meant until he
joined us in the school
office the next morning.
We wanted to tell the
police, but nobody asked
us. We wanted to tell
our parents, but they
waved us off, despite
the fact that only a few
days before they would
have greedily snatched
up any bit of news that
would have fanned the
flames under the rumors
about Herr Schneider and
Silvana’s mother. In the
end, we ourselves stopped
believing that we knew
anything important. The
school year soon came to
an end. Herr Schneider