"Oh, dear, there are no stairs to the basement," the elder woman said. "You have to take the elevator. I'll show you the way."

Looping her arm through Susan's, she began walking away from the foyer traveling down the right hallway. After a few minutes they came to the corridor’s end and a set of smoked glass doors. The lady unlinked her arm from Susan's and pressed the lowest of three buttons and waited for the doors to open. The elevator car arrived with a metallic ding and thinking the woman would leave her to find her way downstairs on her own, Susan turned to thank the lady, but found she had disappeared.

"My goodness, for being so old, she sure can move quickly," Susan muttered to herself, while the doors slide open. As she stepped into the elevator, Susan felt a cold breeze brush quickly past her face. She pushed the button marked 'Basement' and when the elevator began its slow descent she thought, "I will have to remember to ask around before I leave, so I can thank her for all the help."

After a shaky descent, the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened with a mechanical whine. Susan stepped out into the hall and looked left and right. At one end of the corridor was an open door with light spilling out into the hall. Susan began walking in that direction, adjusting the briefcase strap on her shoulder as she went. “Hello? Is there anyone here?” she called.

Suddenly, the same elderly woman from upstairs stepped into the hall from the doorway, “Yes, I’m here. Can I help you, dearie?”

Slightly confused by the woman’s sudden reappearance, Susan answered with an unsure, “Um, yes. Didn’t I just talk to you upstairs?” She stared at the woman for a moment and noticed that while this woman’s face looked the same she was wearing black slacks and a lavender sweater.

“No, I’ve been down here all morning. What can I help you with?” the woman said, while studying Susan.

“I’m trying to find some records of births, marriages and deaths from around the turn of the century. Someone upstairs told me I could find what I was looking for down here,” she said.

“Yes, this is the old county registers office. If there is a record of those events it will be here, somewhere.” The woman began walking back into the brightly lit room. “Well, you better follow me. I can’t promise much, but I’ll help you all I can. By the way, I’m Gretchen.”

“I’m Susan.”

“So, what exactly are you looking for, Susan?” Gretchen asked as she took her seat at a computer terminal.