Seth nodded slowly and turned.

The two policemen sat at their table silently and eyed him with the suspicion that guardians of law and order everywhere have for the unusual.

“Officers,” Seth began, his voice even more unsteady “Have you any idea where I might find Father Morgen?” Both men shook their heads wordlessly. Again Seth nodded.

“But where would he stay if he were to visit here?” Zoe had turned back to the proprietor and his wife.

They shook their heads in unison before the man answered: “At the Kohlbacherhof perhaps,” he replied. “Or perhaps at the old inn.” He looked at the wall of his cafe that faced north. “It’s a few miles from here. Up the road.”

Zoe waited, but the man was apparently finished talking. “Well,” she said tentatively. “Thank you for your… information.”

They left the café and began walking slowly back toward the Kohlbacherhof.

The snow fell finer and heavier now.

“I can’t believe it’s so hard to find one old man in a place this tiny,” Zoe said.

“They know where he is,” Seth said quietly.

“Why do you say that?”

“Didn’t you see the looks on their faces? They were friendly when we walked in and as soon as we said we were looking for Father Morgen, a wall dropped. Their faces turned to stone.”

“But why?” Zoe asked.

“They’re protecting him.”

“Pardon me.” A voice came unexpectedly from behind them. Seth and Zoe whirled to face the old man who had been nursing his beer in the corner of the café.

“I know Father Morgen,” the old man said. “Perhaps I can help you.”

The old man was stooped and bent, but even so, his head was nearly level with Seth’s. He had apparently been quite tall in his prime. His unruly shock of gray hair made him resemble Einstein in his Princeton days.

“My name is Gunther,” the old man said. He held his bare hand out. Seth took the hand and shook it.

“I’m Seth Ridgeway. And this is my wife, Zoe.”

The man who called himself Gunther bowed and took Zoe’s hand. For a moment she thought he was going to kiss it, but he merely shook it and then let it drop. “I can introduce you to Father Morgen,” he said. “I will call you. You wait at the Kohlbacherhof… alone… in the bar.”

He turned then, and with surprising speed for an old man, walked back toward the cafS.

Hours passed for Zoe and Seth as they sat in the basement restaurant and bierstube of the Kohlbacherhof nursing their gluhwein—hot mulled red wine. Up in his room, Stratton fumed silently, chafing at the instructions that Seth and Zoe had been given.

As they waited for the afternoon rendezvous with the old man to pay off, Zoe tried to explain what she had seen in the warehouse and how she had engineered her escape. Seth sat silently, marveling at her strength and ingenuity.

“Lhave to say that the only thing that surprises me is why you didn’t think of your escape plan sooner.”