The Villa

The house continued its descent into disrepair. A splotch of blue graffito appeared on the front. The facade continued to crumble. One night in the summer of 1993, someone threw a bottle of beer against one of the windows, shatterng the pane. Edgar Brunke closed off the bottom two floors of the house as best he could and continued to live on the third floor with his wife, who was afraid to stay in the house alone, even during the day. To ease her fears, Herr Brunke installed heavy locks on the front door. He also hung some curtains around the house to make it look inhabited.

When Frau Neumann returned once to retrieve something she had left behind, the Brunkes refused to let her in. From the Epilogue

p. 229 The House at the Bridge