A little farther down was a street address, and on the following line, a string of numbers divided by spaces. Probably a telephone number.
Ivy’s heart quickened. Could this be the address to her father’s museum in Berlin? Maybe Amelia had sent him a copy of the plans. They might have corresponded, sharing artistic and philanthropic visions.
As she stared at the address, her chest fluttered with excitement. This wasn’t just a historical curiosity; this was an actual address. Was it to the museum? Or maybe to her father’s home?
She remembered that Lea Martin had visited the museum. Lea was Amelia’s great-niece from Germany who came to the fundraising gala and made the winning bid on the necklace Viola had found in San Francisco.
Closing her eyes, Ivy touched the jagged paper, willing guidance or inspiration from it, but she felt nothing aside from admiration for Hans. He helped his daughter Amelia save numerous masterpieces during the war. However, as Ivy and Bennett recently discovered on their honeymoon on Mallorca, Hans paid the ultimate price for this service during the war.
A thought struck Ivy. Modern technology could take her to almost any address virtually in seconds. Clutching the envelope, she hurried from the music room.
When she burst into the library, her niece was back.
Poppy looked up from her laptop. A marketing spreadsheet filled the screen. “What’s up?”
“I found this receipt for the architectural plans.” Ivy held up the torn paper. “There’s also an address written on the back thatI want to look up. I think it might be Amelia’s father’s home or museum. Or something else.”
Poppy’s eyes widened. She pushed her chair back and made room for Ivy to sit beside her. “Let’s check.”
“Did you speak to your brother about Libby?” Ivy asked.
Poppy blew out a puff of air, clearly exasperated with Reed. “He said he was too busy. But I’m not giving up. We have a long-standing sibling pledge. We’re under oath to tell each other what we think of who the other one is dating. On the surface, I like Libby, but I feel like she’s not being truthful about something.”
“It’s nice to have someone looking out for you.” Ivy smiled at the idea. “Does that work for you guys?”
Poppy twisted her lips to one side. “It can be rough, but we’re usually right about them in the end. Guys see things in other guys, and we do the same with other women. So far, it’s been good, even if we don’t like to hear each other’s honest impression at first.”
“I can imagine. Shelly and I never agreed, but then, we have completely different taste in men. Even though Bennett and Mitch are close friends, they’re pretty different.”
“That’s for sure.” Grinning, Poppy said, “Let’s look up that address you found.”
Ivy typed the street address into the search bar, addingBerlin, Germanyat the end. She leaned toward the screen, holding her breath in anticipation.
The results were immediate. However, the search engine pulled up the street address in Switzerland.
“That can’t be right,” Ivy said, perplexed. She shook her head and reentered the information, double-checking each character and adding the country, Germany. “Same result.”
Poppy frowned. “Try again.”
The next time, Ivy tapped DE, the abbreviation for Germany. Yet, the results were similar.Switzerland.She ran her handsover her face. This was more than a decade before Amelia had returned to Europe, with Switzerland as her last residence, so it didn’t make sense.
“Choose that,” Poppy said, pointing to an address that was somewhat similar in Germany.
This time, Ivy’s search revealed a modern manufacturing building in Berlin. “It’s not the same address, but it’s close.”
“Whatever was there might have been lost in the war,” Poppy said, squeezing Ivy’s shoulder. “Or torn down later to modernize the area. It’s been years.”
A wave of disappointment washed over Ivy. Another possible connection to the past had slipped through her grasp. But she didn’t give up easily.
“One more time,” she said. Yet again, the screen flashed the address in Switzerland.
“Wait a minute.” Poppy leaned in. “Enlarge the street image and swing the view around.”
Ivy tapped and zoomed in. “It’s in a business district, but that can’t be right. Amelia’s father lived in Berlin.” She sighed, leaning back in her chair. “I guess too much time has passed. Some things we might never know.”
“It was worth a try, Aunt Ivy.” Poppy brightened and switched tabs on her laptop. “Want to see the marketing plan for the inn? I have some great ideas for the grand reopening.”
“Sure. We’re all looking forward to that.”
