Now we weren’t running around, the cold was really getting to me. It was winter, I was in a short, soaking wet dress and bare feet. “Please, I need to speak to you,” I begged, hugging myself. “About your father.”

A second face peeked through the crack: a woman, also with silver hair. When she saw me standing there shivering, she made the exact same cry of concern my mom would have, and opened the door wide. Then she saw Danny looming behind me and hesitated. I quickly took Danny’s hand: it’s okay, we’re together.

The woman looked at Danny, then at me, then clasped her hands together and gave me an oh, they’re so sweet smile and beckoned us in. We hurried in out of the cold and the woman showed us through to a small living room. Two children—grandchildren, from their ages—were playing on the floor and the heating must have been on full blast because it was blissfully warm. The man followed us in. He was very tall and I saw now that he was dressed in priest’s robes.

The woman fussed around us, first passing us towels and then bringing a blanket to wrap around me. I told them a cut-down version of what was going on: a file had shown up with information about some generals, and we were worried someone might try to blackmail them. The man told us that the woman was his sister and that yes, General Sauer had been their father. “But what could they blackmail us about? My father was a good man.”

I looked at Danny: this was going to be the delicate part. He started talking to the kids, gently distracting them while I leaned forward and showed the man and woman the photo of the file. “There’s a woman’s name next to your father’s name. Svetlana.” I swallowed. I wasn’t good with people but I did my best to be subtle. “Could she be someone he…knew?”

The man shook his head. “My father didn’t have affairs. And he didn’t visit prostitutes.”

“You were close?”

The man shook his head. “Not always. He wanted me to follow him into the military.” He indicated his robes. “I chose a different path. But we made peace, as he got older. He even had this made for me.” He touched the crucifix that hung around his neck.