Snippet #1880164

Gunter closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He nodded, taking in every piece of information that Albert gave him. Then as he opened his eyes, he saw a hint of something in Albert's eyes - was it fear? No, determination. Gunter's gaze wavered. How could Albert feel determination when all Gunter could feel was fear? "I hope so." Gunter responded to his cousin's question with as firm a tone as he could. He had to be stronger than this. If the supposed Nazi saw him acting like this, Gunter would become instantly conspicuous, just like Albert said. But then again, the man might not be a Nazi at all. He might just be a normal person from Germany. But there was a cold air about him that Gunter didn't like, regardless.

Gunter smiled an insincere smile up at Albert, then walked back toward the kitchen to get back to work. But half-way there, Gunter saw something that made him stop. The man's room was open, with Ella making sure it was ready. But the man himself was absent. Gunter was struck with a terrifically bad idea. But he was going to do it anyway. Briskly, almost without thinking, he walked into the room. Then he walked over to Ella. "That man - who is he?"

'I don't know.' she replied irritably. 'Go away.'

Gunter sighed, casting about the room for a way to identify this man. Then his eyes centered in on the suitcases. They would be the key. He quickly knelt down, trying to unbuckle the strap on the leather briefcase as fast as he could. Ella turned around.

'What are you doing???' she whispered. 'Trying to ruin our inn's reputation?'

"No!" He whispered back. "I have to see who this man is!" He almost had the briefcase open - in just a few more seconds...

'Ugh! You and your paranoid delusions!' Ella tried to pull him away from the guest's briefcase, but Gunter held on to it - causing it to fly open.

One piece of the contents of the bag flew from it unnoticed, landing in the corner and leaving an empty space in the bag.

Ella started to fret at him, but then she stopped as they both stared at the case. There were tools and instruments laid out neatly, strapped to the sides. There were pills in pockets and some tools that Gunter had never seen before - and some that he knew all too well. 'Close it!' Ella whispered fearfully, rushing to the open briefcase and looking back at the door. "He'll be back any moment - help me!" she whispered. She frantically began setting up the other bags as if nothing had happened. Gunter set to resettling the contents of the bag and rebuckling the case. He hurried with shaking fingers. Ella was right - he could be back any moment.