Sleight of Hand

CHAPTER Fifteen

On Wednesday afternoon, Sarah Gelfand rushed from her part-time bookkeeping job to the grocery store. She was almost at the checkout counter when she remembered that Bob, her husband, wanted her to buy chips and salsa because he was having some of his buddies over to watch football on Sunday.

By the time she found the chips and bought a jar of salsa it was almost time to pick up her eight-year-old twins from their karate class. She arrived at the dojo just in time, drove home, and was starting to unload the groceries from the station wagon when Bob pulled into the garage. He was helping her carry the groceries into the kitchen when the phone rang.

“Is this Sarah Gelfand?” a man asked when Sarah picked up.

“Yes.”

“My name is Stuart Lang. I manage the River View Mall. Your father, Ernest Brodsky, rents space from us.”

“Yes?” Sarah said. She was not certain why Lang was calling her, but the mention of her father worried her. He’d had some problems with his heart lately.

“I apologize for calling you but Mr. Brodsky’s rent is way overdue. I talked to him about it at the beginning of the month and he assured me he would pay me today, but there was no check in the mail and his shop was closed when I went by.”

“What time was that?”

“I stopped by twice. Once around eleven, when the mail was delivered. Then I went back at three-thirty.”

“And it was closed both times?”

“Yes. I could see mail on the floor just inside the store.”

Sarah was concerned. “Dad never misses a day.”

“Do you have any idea where he is?” Lang asked.

“Have you called his apartment?”

“I called the number on the rental agreement.” He rattled it off.

“That’s Dad’s number. Was he there?”

“That I can’t say. But he didn’t answer the phone. I wouldn’t have bothered you but this isn’t the first time he’s been late with the rent, and he was very specific about paying today. I have someone who’s interested in the space and I need to know what Mr. Brodsky is planning to do.”

“I understand. I haven’t talked to my father since last Tuesday. I’ll try to reach him and I’ll tell him you called.”

“Who was that?” Bob asked as soon as Sarah hung up.

Sarah told her husband about the phone call.

“Call your dad,” he said. “Maybe he has a cold and skipped work.”

“A cold has never stopped him before,” Sarah said. She dialed her father’s number and got his answering machine.

“I’m worried,” Sarah said.

“Then you better get over there. I’ll watch the kids.”

Sarah grabbed her coat and sped across town to the garden apartment where her father was living. She parked in front in his reserved space, worried because the space was not occupied.

Wednesday’s Lee County Journal was lying on the doormat, which meant that her father had not been home since Tuesday.

Sarah rang the doorbell twice, then knocked twice more. She shouted her father’s name. When there was no response, she opened the door with the key her father had given her. Her father was a good housekeeper and the kitchen looked clean and tidy. Sarah walked through the living room and found nothing amiss. In the bedroom, the bed was made and she didn’t think any clothing was missing from her father’s closet or drawers. She looked in the hall closet and found his suitcase.

Sarah sat down on the sofa in the living room. Why wasn’t her father home and why hadn’t he gone to work? Where was he? If he’d gone on a trip he would have called her so she wouldn’t worry. Something was wrong. She hoped he had not had a heart attack. She worried that he was in a hospital somewhere.

Sarah had met the neighbors who lived on either side of her father. They were both friendly with Ernie, but neither one knew where he was. Sarah decided to drive home and ask Bob if he thought they should file a missing-person report.