That’s how it was with Gerda, too. People’s expectations were always totally off, and it was because of her name. People simply couldn’t imagine someone named Gerda being a complete knockout any more than they could image someone named Angelina being a five hundred-pound sumo wrestler with a goatee.

“No, they are not all in love with me; far from it,” Gerda said. “Most of them are too busy having nightmares about IEDs and buddies who have to be shipped home in twelve pieces to even think about that kind of thing.”

“IEDs?”

“Improvised explosive devices. Roadside bombs.”

“Okay, so what about this client, then?”

“Well, he’s been in therapy for about six months now, and last week he told me he was in love with me.”

“Awkward.”

“Yeah, a little. He doesn’t know anything about me, of course, so it’s just a projection. None of my clients know that I’m married, that I have Lulu, where I live, how old I am—nothing.”

“How old is the guy?”

“Young. Ten years younger than us.” Gerda pulled a pack of Camel Lights out of the inside pocket of her leather jacket and held up a hand before Heloise even had a chance to react. “I only smoke one a day, and that’s okay,” she announced in a tone that emphasized that the subject was not open for debate.

She struck a match and lit a cigarette.

“Well, so now this client has started cyberstalking me. He sent me a long declaration of his love on Facebook. I was forced to block him.” She took a drag, inhaled deeply, and then continued as the smoke seeped out of her mouth and nostrils. “What about you? Any more mysterious pictures on Instagram?” She reached for Heloise’s cell phone. “I wasn’t able to find the one you told me about.”

“It’s under the username Anna underscore Kiel,” Heloise said.

She retrieved a little copper bowl from the shelf over the stove and set it in front of Gerda.

“Here, you can use this as an ashtray.”

“You said underscore, right?”

“Yeah.”

“There’s no profile with that name.”

“Let me see,” Heloise said, looking puzzled.

She took the phone and searched for the notification she had received. She clicked on the link. It led her to a blank page that said No results found.

“It looks like the profile was deleted. But I took a screen shot of the picture … wait a sec.”

“Do you really think Anna Kiel was here in your apartment yesterday?”

Heloise found the picture and passed Gerda her phone.

“Well, I didn’t take this picture and post it online, so who else would have done it?”

Gerda looked at the picture, her brow furrowed like she needed reading glasses.

“That is a damn good question,” she said.

Then her expression changed. Her eyebrows rose a little and her lips parted, but she didn’t say anything.