Anja’s heart pounded as she unlocked the door, and it wasn’t because of the stairs they’d just climbed. Her little apartment was her safe haven, a place that she had created just for herself, and she usually didn’t invite near strangers in—especially not ones who might be judgmental. Nobby’s niece could be a bit of a snob.

So what? If she didn’t like Anja’s home, that was her problem. Anja mentally counted to three and then swung open the door.

Susanne normally wasn’t the overly curious kind, but now she found herself looking around. In her socks, she stood in a short, gray-tiled hallway. To her left was a closed door with a dozen postcards and humorous quotes taped to it. Another door, this one with a glass insert, stood open, leading to another room.

Frau Lamm went through that door, turned on the light, and waved at her to follow.

Susanne padded across the hardwood floor. The apartment reminded her of how she’d lived as a student years ago. A sleeper couch with a folded duvet and a pillow dominated the wall to her right, while a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf took up the wall to her left. A TV stand on wheels had been rolled up against the foot of the sofa, and directly behind it, a huge, square Ikea shelf had been set up as a room divider that separated the sleeping area from a small desk.

Every last available space on the bookshelf and the divider was filled with books and notebooks, sorted by color, which created a rainbow that spread through the entire room.

Susanne peeked past a row of books to the other side of the divider. The desk was covered in colorful paper, cardboard, and felt. Some of the half-finished craft projects looked as if they would become store decorations for Valentine’s Day.

When Susanne stepped farther into the room, she realized that it was L-shaped, curving to the left. A low-hanging white lamp threw shadows onto a tiled mini kitchen with a fridge, a sink, a two-plate stove, a round table, and two chairs.

Compared to her own spacious apartment in the Wiehre, Frau Lamm’s home was tiny, but Susanne guessed that with a pair of French doors leading onto a balcony and another window that let in sunlight, it would look bigger than it really was when the sun was shining, reflecting off the caramel-colored hardwood floor. It was cozy, and it fit Frau Lamm perfectly.

“Um, I know it’s pretty small, but I don’t need much.” Frau Lamm’s defensive tone made Susanne look over to her.

She stood next to the tiny kitchen, her arms folded across her chest as if to erect a barrier between them.