This is a letter from June 7, 1912
Front
Bern, June 1912
Dear Julius,
It is clear to what end you wrote your letter, and let me put you at ease; I live a content life.
I have laid to rest my anger and confusion, now that I know what happened to you and mother when you were young. I forgive you, as I forgive Elisabeths brother for selling poison, as I forgive the judges in Zwolle who rejected the dossier I compiled to try to get you free. I collected as much evidence about the death of Nicolaas Maester as I could and I know you are correct; the culprit was Giuseppe Cagliari.
But he was in love; people do strange things when in love. He must still feel awful about what happened. To right wrongs, I will look him up. I know where he lives, and that he opened his very own circus. In an hour, a carriage will take me to Turin, where Circo Maestro presents his arts. I will go to the grounds, where for the main show tonight the famous Italian lion tamer will perform. I will tell you of our meeting once it’s happened.
I laid out my steps on the back of this card so you can see through the stops on my way yourself. I think you’ll be happy to see my progress.
Be content, and know I forgive him for both of us,
Julia Korenaar
PS: I will send you a picture of myself when I can.
Back
Zurich
Turin
Geneve
Pinerolo
Genoa
Bern
Train tracks
Carriage
Monestary San Michele
Julia seems to mean something with the underlined sentence “see through the stops on my way”. What could this mean?
The back of the letter has a couple of places in Central Europe. Can you trace her route?
Julia starts in Bern and ends in Turin; she uses a carriage so there is only one route she can take.
What do the stops on her way have to do with the letter she wrote?
“See through the stops on my way”
Every stop on Julia’s route (including Bern and Turin) corresponds to a word on the other side of the card. Can you read her hidden message?
Julia’s hidden message to Julius: I will end Giuseppe
