Munich, Germany-Spring -2011

PROLOGUE

I

A tight bunch of red roses tucked beneath one arm the old woman slowly descended the steep staircase. The vertical pitch, along with a heavy handbag slung over one shoulder strained her frail legs as she eased her way down from the second floor. Although still remarkably fit for nearly a century old, she had nevertheless noticed a sharp decline in stamina the past year and the stairwell was increasingly difficult for her to navigate safely. Scorning a perfectly functional elevator a few feet outside her apartment door, she stubbornly refused to use the claustrophobic contraption. She’d told her few friends in the building she would only use it when they came to collect her in a pine box, which she also claimed wouldn’t be longnow.

Once downstairs, she paused on the edge of a small foyer surprised by how winded she was after only two flights of stairs. Shuffling slowly across a yellowed linoleum floor, she dipped a shoulder to just the right angle and nudged open a swinging glass door just enough to slip outside. Outweighing her by a least a couple hundred pounds, the door would have been an impassable barrier if not for the practiced opening maneuver, her only defense against becoming a shut-in like so many of her neighbors. Curiously, there was a push button door opener within easy reach, but she never used it. If she couldn’t even walk down some stairs and open a damn door by herself, she’d long ago decided that would mean her race was finallyrun.

Suddenly outside, the morning sun was beginning to peek over the steeply pitched roof of Garden Court Manor, now just behind her. Located in downtown Munich, the large senior residence had been home for more than 40 years and would remain so until she met her maker. Standing on a wide sidewalk bathed in deep shadow, it was unseasonably cold for a spring morning, even for mountainous southern Bavaria. Pleasantly, however, the streaming rays of sunshine beaming out into the congested traffic lanes of Steinsdorfstrasse, now just in front of her, promised another beautiful day once it warmed up a bit. Parallel to the sidewalk, Steinsdorfstrasse was a bustling city street tucked inside a tight maze of office buildings, shops, restaurants, and apartments. Clogged with the usual morning rush of commuters and pedestrians hurrying to work, school, or play, the area was a mass of humanity, rushing about to begin the day. The old wo