32
The following week, Nancy received an email from the detective agency.
Dear Mrs Farnham.
We are sorry to tell you we have been unable to find Herr Schmidt. The only Hans Schmidt with the birthdate you gave us sadly passed away at the age of 2 in 1941. We have looked for men called Hans Schmidt who are of a similar age, including those for whom Hans is a middle name, but none of them are or were importers or exporters or could have been in Paris in 1964. The telephone number you gave us for him is not publicly listed, so we have been unable to confirm to whom it belongs.
It is very unusual for us to fail to find an individual. Is there any further information you could give us?
We have attached our invoice for the work we have carried out so far. We would appreciate payment within ten working days.
Nancy reread the email. How could they have completely failed to find Hans? Their website contained lots of positive reviews and certifications, and Olivia’s private detective had said he’d used them several times and always found them highly efficient. She had to assume they were correct - there was no information out there, which meant the letter was a scam after all, but her instincts told her it was genuine.
What should she do? The sensible thing would be to ignore it. Since when have you ever done the sensible thing, Nancy Smith? Sod it. She needed to know what was going on. It would be lunchtime in Germany now. She tapped the number he’d given into her phone and pressed the Green dial button.
She didn’t have to wait long for an answer.
‘Hallo.’ Was it Hans? The voice didn’t sound familiar. Nancy realised that she’d never spoken to Hans on the phone before, and, in any case, his voice was bound to have changed after all these years.
‘Guten Tag,’ she said in her best German. ‘Am I speaking to Hans Schmidt?’
She heard him take a sharp intake of breath. ‘Hello, Nancy,’ he replied.
‘How did you know it was me?’
He chuckled. That sound was familiar - wonderfully familiar. Nancy allowed herself a sigh of relief. Not a scam then - or if it was, it was Hans who was scamming her.
‘I was hoping you would call,’ he said. ‘I was only thinking about you this morning but then I think about you often.’
‘You do?’
‘Yes. We had happy times together. Yes?’
‘Yes, we did.’
‘I often wondered how you were and what you were doing.’
Nancy opened her mouth but no sound would come out.
‘Nancy?’ He sounded concerned.
Pull yourself together, woman. Say something, or he’ll hang up.
‘Sorry, I’m just so shocked to speak to you after all this time.’
‘Yes, it has been a very long time. But somehow, it feels like yesterday. You received my letter?’
‘It arrived a few days ago. It’s taken me a while to pluck up the courage to phone you.’ She decided not to mention the detective agency.
‘I can understand that. It took me a little time to, as you say, pluck up the courage to write to you.’
‘I would say 56 years was a lot more than a little time.’ Nancy said, trying not to sound sarcastic.
‘This is true. But I had other things going on in my life. As I said in my letter, I waited until my wife sadly passed away. It didn’t seem right to contact you before.’
‘How did you know where to write?’
‘The Internet is an amazing thing. I searched for Nancy in Dashford-on-Sea, and you and your holiday cottages appeared at the top of the list.’
‘Unlike Hans Schmidt. There are lots of those, but none of them appeared to be you.’
He didn’t say anything for a moment. ‘Well, we’ve found one another now. I’m glad you called. We have very many things to talk about.’
He was right there. No point in beating about the bush. ‘Such as why you disappeared.’
‘I promise I will explain that to you, but there is much to tell you first to make it make sense. And I would prefer to explain all that to you face to face.’
‘You’re meeting Hans where?’ Olivia sounded incredulous when Nancy phoned her.
‘The cafe we used to go to in the Bois de Boulogne. It’s a public place. I don’t see a problem.’
‘You’re travelling all the way to Paris just to say hello?’
‘It’s only a quick flight. I haven’t been to Paris for years. It will be good to go there again.’
‘He is luring you to a foreign country where you’ve got no backup. That sounds dangerous to me.’
‘I’m a fully grown woman with a black belt in karate. I’ve been trekking in the foothills of the Himalayas, and I’ve swum in shark-infested waters in Australia. I don’t think meeting an octogenarian in a Paris cafe is that dangerous by comparison. You wouldn’t bat an eyelid if I said I was meeting him in London.’
‘I would. He disappears without a word, then pops up half a century later, and there’s no trace of him having ever existed. It all sounds extremely dodgy to me.’
‘What do you think he’s going to do? Attempt to kidnap me? I need to find out what went on all those years ago. I don’t want to go to my grave not knowing.’
‘As long as you don’t go to your grave in the course of finding out. Why can’t he come to London?’
‘Neither of us suggested it. I can fly to Paris as quickly as I can get the train to London. Perhaps he’s nostalgic for France?’
Olivia huffed. Nancy could picture her shaking her head in disgust. ‘Who’s going with you?’ Olivia asked.
‘No one,’ Nancy said.
‘No one? Are you insane? Why aren’t you taking Mark?’
‘He’s in Italy with Lucy. I don’t want him fussing around me anyway.’
‘Why don’t I come with you? I could do with some excitement.’
Nancy considered the suggestion. The trip would be more fun with Olivia around, but she still wanted to meet Hans alone.
‘OK then, but on one condition: you will not interfere.’
‘As if I would. Well, actually, I would if he looked dodgy.’
‘Olivia!’
‘Alright, I promise not to interfere. When are we flying out?’
‘Tomorrow morning.’
‘Tomorrow?? But I’ve got a hairdresser’s appointment.’
‘Don’t worry. I’ll go on my own.’
‘No, no. I can reschedule Julian. I’m sure he won’t charge me when I explain that I’m saving my best friend from potentially becoming a people trafficking victim.’
Nancy laughed. ‘At least you’ll have something interesting to talk about when he asks about your holidays. I’ll meet you at Orly airport at 12.30 pm.’