style="font-size:15px;"> She turned back to her work.
“There you have it,” Saylor said. He checked his watch. “I’d better be getting back before I’m missed.”
Out on the street, he shook hands with Dan. “Are you single, by the way?” He winked. “I could set you up with my brother.”
Dan grinned in embarrassment. “Thanks, but I’m not on the market at present.”
“Too bad,” Saylor said. “For him, anyway.” He nodded to a young couple passing on the sidewalk before turning back to Dan. “Just a word of warning,” he said. “It’s a small town here. Watch your back while you’re snooping around. Especially with Commissioner Burgess a friend of Mrs. Killingworth.”
“Warning noted,” Dan said. “Thanks for everything. I’ll be in touch.”
“And thanks for coming by,” Saylor said, as though it was Dan who had done him the favour.
Sally gave him a glum look on his return the following morning. She’d retired the blue, orange, and violet for an all-black outfit. She was a veritable Queen of the Night, with a stroke of magenta eye shadow. Mourning or colour fatigue, it was hard to say. She sighed and plunked her notebook onto his desk. Dan glanced up, trying not to look amused by this expression of exasperation.
“I can’t find him anywhere,” she said.
“Who?” Dan said, playing dumb.
“Oh, great! You don’t even remember what you asked me to find for you.”
“Fill me in,” Dan said.
“I can tell you without doubt there is not a single Magnus Ferguson listed with any public telephone directory in the entire country,” she said. “I have now checked the records dating back ten years.” Dan whistled. “Not only that, I’ve also called all one hundred and fifty of the ‘M. Fergusons’ listed and not one of them claims to be or to know a ‘Magnus.’ And now, if you don’t mind, I’d prefer to go back to cleaning chamber pots.”
He laughed as she flounced out of his room and then turned right back around. “Oh yeah — and this very creepy guy has been trying to get hold of you since yesterday. He refuses to leave a message.” She placed a name and number on his desk and left.
Larry Fiske. Dan didn’t recognize the name. He dialled the number and reached the reception desk at the firm of Fiske and Travis. Dan was put through immediately. Fiske identified himself as a lawyer representing the Killingworth family. Of course, this was the mysterious “Larry” that Thom and his mother had discussed during their meeting with Dan. Finally, Dan thought, he was going to be told Lucille had hired him to find her missing husband. He had more than a few questions, and was still undecided whether or not he’d willingly continue with the request to find Craig Killingworth.
“Mr. Sharp, I’m told you have been very loyal to the Killingworth family.”
That had been Lucille Killingworth’s phrase, Dan recalled. He needed to make clear his position once and for all. “Mr. Fiske, I would not describe my actions as being loyal to the Killingworths,” he said slowly. “When I met with Lucille and Thom last month I was simply doing them a favour. In a personal capacity.”
“I’m very glad to hear that,” Larry went on. “So are you taking on the case?”
“I’m considering it, yes.”
“Then I have to advise you that the Killingworth family would take exception to your decision if you choose to take on that request. Craig Killingworth’s disappearance twenty years ago caused his family considerable grief, which they have since managed to get over. They would not want all that stirred up again. They would also not take kindly to having you turn against them now.”
Dan was completely thrown. If they didn’t want him to take on the case, then who did? His tongue suddenly got stuck to the roof of his mouth. “In what capacity are you advising me, Mr. Fiske?”
“In a personal one.”
He oozed unctuousness. Dan decided he would hate this guy if he ever met him.
“Perhaps it’s a good time to mention that it has come to my attention there’s some question of attempted rape in connection with you and a guest of the Killingworths.…”
Dan exploded. “What?”
Larry went on as though he hadn’t been interrupted. “… as well as a question of intent to spread the HIV virus. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. If a test shows you to be HIV-positive, you could be up on charges of attempted murder.”
“Who’s going to order me to take an HIV-test?”
“You know very well that it’s within the jurisdiction of any court, should the matter come to that.”
There was silence on the other end. Dan felt his heart galloping a path through his stomach, but he wasn’t going to let a lawyer get the better of him. “Don’t try to bully me, Mr. Fiske. And don’t insult my intelligence. I’m obviously smarter than you.”
“Really?” Fiske’s voice dripped disdain. “How do you figure that?”
“Simple — because I’m not a lawyer. And if anything, I’m the one who should be worried about catching something.”
“Yes, Mr. Sharp. You probably should be very worried. I’ll leave you with those thoughts.”
The call clicked off.
“Son-of-a-fucking bitch!” Dan snarled. His hand shook as he forced himself not to bang the receiver down. His mouth was dry. He tried to marshal his thoughts. Things were definitely getting out of hand. And worse, what he’d assumed about being hired to find Craig Killingworth was totally false. The mystery was spreading, with no sign of who wanted Killingworth found.
Dan thought back to the report. Craig Killingworth had disgraced himself in his hometown and in the eyes of his family, then got on his bicycle and — what? Been hit by a car and died? Committed a crime and scrammed? Or simply started a new life for himself without looking back? All of these were possible. Sometimes locating a missing person seemed like taking a multiple-choice exam. Other times it felt like digging through the rubble to find something you only suspected was there, if it wasn’t in one of a thousand other places.
Sometimes, with a few known facts, it was like a recipe. Put in all the ingredients, including a few conjectured ones, stir round and round, and voila! — a cake — though in this case a particularly inedible one. Dan smiled at his analogy. He’d try it out on his boss one day. When he’d cleared himself of the filing cabinet incident. When his boss regained a sense of humour. Okay, maybe not. And — oh yes! — don’t forget the missing ingredient: I have to advise you that the Killingworth family would take exception to your decision if you choose to take on that request. That was the icing on the cake. Maybe Lucille Killingworth did not want her husband found. Why? Did she have something to hide?
Dan looked over the information Sally had left on his desk. He turned to his computer and checked flight schedules then pressed the intercom button. His boss answered. “Good morning, Daniel.”
“Good morning, Ed. It’s about
