“I think so.”
“I told Quercy there might be something in the name,” he observed. “Of course, the name Eli fixes it. Now I get the Rosepierre. A literal translation of Rosenstein. I wonder... He must have been very brave or very foolish to stay here, with the Nazis coming.”
“Perhaps he was only too optimistic,” she said. “You know, I’d never thought of that, about the name.”
“Was he rich?”
“I don’t think so. He worked very hard. But he may have been thrifty. I don’t really know. As far as I can remember we lived in an ordinary decent way, not poverty-stricken and not specially luxurious.”
“But it’s at least a possibility.”
“What difference does it make? Whatever he had the Nazis must have confiscated.”
“If they could find it.”
“I suppose,” she said, “you’re looking for a motive.”
“There must be one. And I’ve got to find it.”