“The home of Anheuser-Busch. As in Busch Stadium.”

“As in Budweiser beer,” Decker said.

“There was an expression my friend Ellie in Munich used to use—‘Bierbauch Bayer.’ It means beer-bellied Bavarian. Beer is a cultural icon in Germany, especially Bavaria.”

“Well, beer doesn’t do too bad in the good old US of A, either. The upshot of this entire thing is that last night I got an e-mail from Marta. Did I do well or what?”

“I can’t believe you found out all this information in so short a time.”

“Thank the Internet. Both women are widows, by the way.” Decker held up a wet roasting pan. “Can you dry a little faster so I have some room for this in the dish rack?”

Rina picked up the dinner plates and stacked them on the counter. “Happy now?”

“I just didn’t want to nick the stoneware.”

She smiled. “You’re wonderful. I love you.”

Decker started washing the utensils. “I love you, too. You want to hear the interesting part?”

“There’s more?”

“Lots. Guess what Anika’s married name is?”

Rina finished with the dinner dishes, then picked up the pan and began to dry it. “Being as there must be about a million German surnames, I give up.”

“Even if you went through them all, you wouldn’t be close. It’s Emerson.”

“She married an American.”

“She married a Brit.”

“That must be a story.”

“It must be one hell of a story. But I don’t know it because it’s not the kind of thing you e-mail to a stranger.”

“Are you sure you’ve got the right Marta Lubke?”

“Yes, I’m positive because she remembers your mother for the same reason your mother remembered her. They were both Marta. And she remembered some of the other girls when I mentioned their names. And both of them remembered your grandmother’s murder. How much detail they recall … that I don’t know.”

Rina put her hand over her mouth and froze. Slowly, she let it drop to her side.

Decker said, “Marta Lubke and Anika are well into their eighties. I think your mother has been playing a little loose with the years.”

“I’m stunned.” Rina swallowed. “Not by Mama cheating on her age, but that you really found someone she knew as a child.”

“Marta Lubke Wallek was very excited that Marta Gottlieb Elias is still alive. She would like to contact your mother, Rina, if that’s okay with your mother. She said she has quite a story as well. We need to tell Mama what’s going on.”

Rina sighed. “Of course. It won’t be easy to tell her about it. Mama will wonder why we were searching for Marta Lubke.”

“Just tell her that after she spoke about her childhood, you wanted to find someone from her past.”

“All right.” Rina was uncertain but was resolved to do the right thing. “We’ll forget about my grandmother’s murder. I’ll tell Mama what’s going on. Actually, I’m much more excited about a possible reunion between the two of them. Better than digging up old bones.”