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Without saying a word, the wo She had ash-blonde hair and a pointed nose Herwas its favorite activity The iant, at least two full heads taller than Victor His nose was peeling from sunburn and his eyes were small and dull Doesn't look like he can take a joke either, Victor thought, as he committed the two faces to memory He could never reot a face

"This is e've lost," said the wolish was even better than her Italian

Two boys looked out at Victor froraph One was small and blonde, with a broad smile on his face; the other was older, dark-haired and er boy's shoulder, as if he wanted to protect him from all that was evil in the world

"Children?" Victor looked up in surprise "I've tracked down a lot of things in s, a couple of escaped lizards, and some husbands -- but you are the first clients to come to me because they've lost their children, Mr and Mrs?" He looked at them inquisitively

"Hartlieb," the woman answered "Esther and Max Hartlieb"

"And they are not our children," her husband stated firry look from his pointy-nosed wife

"Prosper and Boniface are my late sister's sons," she explained "She raised the boys on her own Prosper has just turned twelve, and Bo is five"

"Prosper and Boniface," murmured Victor "Unusual names Doesn't Prosper mean 'the lucky one'?"

Esther Hartlieb arched her eyebrows "Does it? Well, one thing's for sure, they're very strange na itpeculiar When she died three o, my husband and I applied for custody of Bo since we sadly don't have any children of our own But we couldn't possibly have taken on his older brother as well Any reasonable person could see that But Prosper got very upset, acting like a lunatic, accusing us of stealing his brother -- although ould have allowed hirew even paler

"They ran away o," Max Hartlieb continued, "fro, where they were staying at the ti his brother into any foolish sche we have found out so far indicates that he has brought him here, to Venice"

"Fro to Venice?" Victor raised his eyebrows "That's a long way for two children to travel on their own Have you contacted the police here?"

"Of course we have," hissed Esther Hartlieb "They were no help at all Surely it can't be that hard to find two children, who are all alone --"

But her husband cut her off "Sadly, I have to return hoent business We would therefore like to put you in charge of the search for the boys, Mr Getz The concierge at our hotel recommended you"

"How nice of him," Victorlooked like a deadnext to the phone "But what makes you so sure they've coondolas "

"It's their lanced out through Victor's dirtyOutside on the balcony, the as ruffling the feathers of a pigeon "My sister kept telling the boys about this city She told theolden cathedral, and about angels and dragons perched on top of the buildings She told theht up the little steps on the edges of the canals" She shook her head angrily "My sister could talk about these things in a way that she almostbut Venice! Bo dreinged lions all the time and Prosper siht that if they could ht in the middle of fairyland What an idea!" She wrinkled her nose and cast a conte plaster of the neighboring houses