So being patient wasn't a problem. That's why he didn't mind passing the time in the civilian waiting area of The New Cambridge Police Department. In the past he would have brought his maps and doodles with him, as he did when he found himself in doctor's waiting rooms or at the mechanic's while his oil was being changed. But he didn't think he needed the maps and doodles anymore, the endless speculation about the location of The Pioneer Club. He believed he had found it, and now he was on the brink of a new phase of his life, one he hoped would move faster, a wind at his back and gravity pulling him toward the finish line. He just had to find the right person to talk to, and while he waited for that person, he didn't want to read anything. He crossed his legs and bounced his foot and observed the humanity that came and went through the front door of the police station.
When he'd arrived two hours earlier, he'd found the station in a bit of a panic. He understood why having listened to the radio in the car on the way into town. A New Cambridge police officer had gone missing the day before, and the authorities were asking for the public's help locating the young man. A virtual kid, from Ludwig's point of view, yet he'd been on the police force for several years while also attending classes at Fields. Ludwig didn't know him, but rather than seeing the developing crisis as a reason to stay away from the police, he saw it instead as validation of the information he possessed, making it all the more crucial that he talk to someone of some importance as soon as possible.
The first uniformed officer he encountered seemed distracted and skeptical.
"Can I help you, sir?"
"I have information about an ongoing investigation."
"What would that be, sir?"
"To whom would I speak about an unsolved murder case?"
The cop raised his eyes a little. He looked like a college student as well, with a buzz cut and freshly shaven cheeks.
"I can take the preliminary information from you, and then you'll speak to one of our senior officers or a detective."
Ludwig shook his head. "Who is the most senior officer in the department?"
The cop looked reluctant to reveal anything. "Sir..." He sounded frustrated.
"Can you just tell me the name of the most senior member of the force, the person who has been here the longest?"
"That would be Captain Berding."
"How long has he been here?"
"Longer than I've been alive, let's put it that way."
"In New Cambridge?"
"Sir. I have other work to do."
"I'd like to talk to Captain Berding then. I'll only talk to him."
"He's busy, you know."
"I'll wait. And you can tell him I have information about an open murder investigation. Maybe more than one murder. Who knows?"
The cop sighed. "It's your time, I suppose." He nodded in the direction of the waiting area. "Have a seat and I'll tell him you're here."
*
Ludwig began to wonder if they had forgotten about him, or if indeed the young cop had ever bothered to tell his captain that someone was waiting to see him. He knew that in the midst of crisis and chaos things fell through the cracks, and on a day like this, he qualified as the human equivalent of loose change falling deep inside the sofa cushions. But they needed to know what he knew, and the longer he sat the more he began to think about this cop who had also gone missing.
It couldn't just be a coincidence, could it? His academic mind told him that coincidences didn't exist, that if clusters formed, there was causality behind it. Could a local girl and a local cop disappear within a month of each other, and the two events not be related? Especially in a town like New Cambridge, which existed in such close proximity to The Pioneer Club...
A thought began to brew in Ludwig's mind. The longer he sat, the more appealing it became to him. He tried to talk himself out of using it as an option for getting in to see the Captain, but if he was really as convinced about what he knew as he thought he was, did it make sense to leave any arrows in the quiver? Who was he helping by keeping his light under a bushel? If he wanted his life to move fast, if he wanted that wind at his back, he knew what he could say. And he knew if he said it, the wind might turn into a hurricane, but wasn't that really what he wanted?
He stood up and crossed the waiting area. The same cop saw him approaching, and Ludwig could tell the young man wanted to roll his eyes, but his training managed to stop him.
"He's awfully busy, sir. He knows you're waiting."
"Does he know that I have information about your missing colleague?"
The young cop's mouth opened partway. His cheeks flushed.
"You better watch it, sir," he whispered. "That's a sore subject around here."
"Then you'd hate to be the one who had information relating to the case and let it slip through your fingers, wouldn't you?"
The cop studied Ludwig for a moment, as if trying to figure him out, and then he shook his head.
"You better not be jacking with me."
"I'm not."
"Stay there. Right there. You better be there when I come back."
"I will be."
And Ludwig remained rooted to the spot for the sixty seconds it took the young cop to return and say that Captain Berding would see him now. Right now.
*
The Captain looked impressive with his neatly organized desk and wall of plaques. The American flag in the corner made Ludwig wonder if he needed to snap off a salute. Being in the Captain's office felt like being in the Dean's office as a young, untenured faculty member, one of those conversations that began, "We have some concerns about the trajectory your career is taking..."