Stark, standing by the door, froze for a moment. For a while, he could not figure out the logic behind Schiller's actions.
Hiding in the closet because he was afraid of strangers? But when the two of them came in, young Schiller had not stopped them. If he had been afraid, he could simply have refused to open the door.
Stark paused, then walked into the bedroom. It was a very small room, and the bed had been converted from a crib. It seemed young Schiller had not been sleeping alone in this room for long; he had probably only recently begun sleeping apart from his mother.
Stark walked around the little bed and approached the closet. He gently pushed on its door, only to find that it would not move at all.
He slipped his fingers into the crack between the doors and tried to pull it open, but it remained completely still. Stark took several steps back and examined the closet again.
It was a huge solid-wood wardrobe, looking like a handmade product from the previous century. There were cartoon stickers on its doors, placed at a height that suggested young Schiller had put them there himself.
Stark looked around and realized the gap in the closet doors was actually very narrow, while the inside was pitch-black. Unless one stood at a particular angle under particular lighting, it was impossible to see Schiller inside. Combined with the fact that Schiller was completely motionless, it was difficult to notice there was a child in the closet at all.
After observing for a long time without finding any other clues, Stark could only squat down and align his gaze with Schiller's inside the closet. The two stared at each other through the narrow crack in the doors.
Then Stark realized