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Walter looked down at the post again and said in a tone of surprise: "Here's a letter for Ada."
The room went quiet.
Carla stared at the white envelope as Ada took it from Walter.
Ada did not receive many letters.
Erik was home--it was the last day of his short leave--so there were four people watching as Ada opened the envelope.
Carla held her breath.
Ada drew out a typed letter on headed paper. She read the message quickly, gasped, then screamed.
"No!" said Carla. "It can't be!"
Maud jumped up and put her arms around Ada.
Walter took the letter from Ada's fingers and read it. "Oh, dear, how terribly sad," he said. "Poor little Kurt." He put the paper down on the breakfast table.
Ada began to sob. "My little boy, my dear little boy, and he died without his mother--I can't bear it!"
Carla fought back tears. She felt bewildered. "Axel and Kurt?" she said. "At the same time?"
She picked up the letter. It was printed with the name of the hospital and its address in Akelberg. It read:
Dear Mrs. Hempel,
I regret to inform you of the sad death of your son, Kurt Walter Hempel, age eight years. He passed away on 4 April at this hospital as a result of a burst appendix. Everything possible was done for him but to no avail. Please accept my deepest condolences.
It was signed by the senior physician.
Carla looked up. Her mother was sitting next to Ada, arm around her, holding her hand as she sobbed.
Carla was grief-stricken, but more alert than Ada. She spoke to her father in a shaky voice. "There's something wrong."
"What makes you say that?"
"Look again." She handed him the letter. "Appendicitis."
"What is the significance?"
"Kurt had had his appendix removed."
"I remember," her father said. "He had an emergency operation, just after his sixth birthday."
Carla's sorrow was mixed with angry suspicion. Had Kurt been killed by a dangerous experiment that the hospital was now trying to cover up? "Why would they lie?" she said.
Erik banged his fist on the table. "Why do you say it is a lie?" he cried. "Why do you always accuse the establishment? This is obviously a mistake! Some typist has made a copying error!"
Carla was not so sure. "A typist working in a hospital is likely to know what an appendix is."
Erik said furiously: "You will seize upon even this personal tragedy as a way of attacking those in authority!"
"Be quiet, you two," said their father.
They looked at him. There was a new tone in his voice. "Erik may be right," he said. "If so, the hospital will be perfectly happy to answer questions and give further details of how Kurt and Axel died."
"Of course they will," said Erik.
