Yes, I’m sure.
No, really, I’m sure.
Twenty minutes later, we land. On our drive into Chambéry Theo asks me where I’d like them to drop me off.
“Roberto will stand guard outside,” he says, “until your security detail arrive. They’re on their way.”
“Can you take me to Grandpa’s?” I ask him, startling myself.
He doesn’t bat an eye. “Of course.”
I give Abdel the address. When we arrive there and get out of the car to say our goodbyes, I ask Theo if he can wait a few minutes. Puzzled, he agrees.
I dash upstairs. When Grandpa opens the door, I pull him out onto the landing and up one flight of stairs up and away from the listening devices in his apartment.
I’ll make sure Theo’s agents find and destroy them as soon as they get here!
“What’s going on?” Grandpa asks, confused.
“Sorry about the theatrics,” I whisper. “Tell me, did you by any chance travel to Sandeville?”
“Sandeville… Sandeville…” He shuts his eyes, straining.
“It’s the town in Normandy where Simon almost got executed,” I remind him.
“Oh yes, of course!”
“Did you go to Sandeville for the key?”
He nods.
I take a few deep breaths before asking the next question. “Did you find the farmhouse? Did you find the key?”
“Yes.”
Is this a dream?Did I fall asleep in the car and my subconscious mind is conjuring this scene to fulfill my most burning wish?
I pinch myself.
Grandpa gives me a puzzled look.
“Please, tell me what happened.”
“I asked around. The locals told me which farmhouse the Germans used to keep their prisoners. I went there.” He squeezes his eyes shut again. “What was the owners’ name…”
“Mesnil. Did you ask them about the key?”
He looks down at his feet. “No.”
“What do you mean?”
“I was a stupid nineteen-year-old back then, Elise.” He lifts his bespectacled eyes at me. “I waited until no one was home, broke into the cellar, and did some digging with my mother’s gardening shovel.”
“And? Did you find the key?”
“Yes.”
I take another calming breath. “Did you bring it home?”
