“Little Lulu’s last name,” she replied, “is Moppet. Gene was the only person who ever called me ‘Miss Moppet.’ ”
Audra flashed back to Jack’s journal. indeed, Little Lulu was one of the comic strips pasted inside. But then, so were Blondie and Calvin and Hobbes. “I’m sure it’s just a coincidence.”
“The plane Jack was holding when I saw him. Does he carry it around a lot?”
“Yes—I suppose.”
“He rubs it like a worry stone.” It was less of a guess than a statement.
Reluctantly, Audra nodded.
“A family friend once carved Gene a toy wooden soldier. He took it everywhere as a kid, was always rubbing it with his thumb. The facial features were barely there when he was done with it.”
Audra glanced at Sean, who seemed to arrive at the same implication: that Jack’s behavior could be traced not to Isaak, but to Gene.
The clues skittered through Audra’s head. As an officer in Intelligence, Gene would have had knowledge of submarines and aircrafts and likely the saboteurs’ case. It was just as plausible, married to Vivian, he would have been acquainted with the necklace.
Again, though, the links were interpretative and far-reaching, skewed by personal hopes.
“Luanne, I’m sure there are similarities. But really, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have given you the impression that—”
“You talked about unfinished business. How some people believe that’s why spirits return, in one form or another. And I was thinking, maybe there are even souls who are in charge of carrying another’s message.”
Audra preferred to discount all of this but no longer felt an authority on absolutes. “I guess ... it’s possible.”
Luanne nodded and looked thoughtfully at Sean. “Dear,” she said, “the letter and necklace out of your grandmother’s things—do you remember much about the day you found them?”
Sean shrugged, pondering. “Just that they were stored away in the basement. To be honest,” he said, “I didn’t realize you were aware I’d kept them.”
Until now, Audra had forgotten she still had the manila envelope he’d let her borrow, containing the referenced letter and article clippings.
“You brought them to me one day,” Luanne said to him,
“when you happened across the box. You wanted to know about the notes and letters, all of them from Isaak. That’s what he went by—his middle name—though his given name was Jakob.”
“Jakob?” Sean said. “You’re saying it’s the same person?”
Luanne answered with a quiet, “Yes.”
Sean looked at Audra, who nodded that she already knew. What she didn’t know was how much more information awaited. And she couldn’t deny being intrigued.
“Please,” she said, “keep going.”
Lifting her posture, Luanne continued. “Sean, there’s a very specific reason you kept that necklace you’re still wearing. It belonged to a man who, by blood, was your real grandfather.”
Sean narrowed his eyes. He shook his head. “What about Grandpa Gene?”
Luanne sighed and murmured, “I’d hoped this would be easier, telling you the second time.”
“Does Mom know about this?”
“Not yet,” Luanne said. “Once you found out, I knew it was finally time to tell her. But she was so worried, with you shipping out just a few days later. And you agreed that delaying it would change nothing at this point....”
“Wait ... I remember now.” The recollection was assembling. “You and I were going to talk to her together ... after I was back from my tour.”
Luanne nodded. “We were.”
He shoved his fingers through his hair. “Grandpa Gene knew. Didn’t he?”
“Apparently so. Of course, he never said a word to me. I only learned this from reading it in Vivian’s diaries.” She suddenly turned to Audra. “Oh, I know that sounds horrible, invading someone’s privacy like that.”
Audra was well aware how it sounded, having committed the infraction herself. “It’s okay, I understand,” she said, but Luanne proceeded to explain.
“Just after they died, there was a night when Judith had been crying up a storm. She still missed her parents tucking her in. I was exhausted and missing them just as much. I pulled out some of Vivian’s old diaries, to hear her voice again. What I came across was a story about her first love. How she’d met Isaak in London, but lost track of him. Then one night he showed up in New York, in a German uniform of all things. He asked for her help to turn in a group of spies, just as you talked about. And they managed to succeed—but not before the two of them ... had...”