from, even whether she was married before she met me.” He opened his hands. “I’ve come up empty, emptier than before. I’m torn up over this, the loss, the wondering what happened to her. Sometimes I dream of that balloon man walking by us. I see him coming and I see him going and I know he’s the messenger of the greatest loss in my life. And I wonder, why didn’t I know when I saw him coming down the street that he carried that terrible message?”
In my mind I could see it, the almost invisible man beneath all the balloons inflated with helium reaching for the sky, children with balloons tied to their wrists to keep them from escaping. How sad that such a beautiful, colorful image meant something so evil to this poor man.
“Was she pregnant?” I asked finally.
“I don’t know.” He answered quickly, as though he knew the answer to every question an investigator might ask, and he probably did.
“I’m so terribly sorry for your loss,” I said.
“I want to hire you, Chris.”
I must have looked startled because he said, “Don’t say anything. Just listen for a minute. I have looked for her. I have had a private detective look for her. I have played games with the police while they supposedly looked for her. She’s gone. She’s nowhere. She turned a corner and disappeared off the face of the earth. Whether she’s dead or alive, I must know. I can’t function anymore. I can’t move forward and I’ve never been able to stand still. You have to help me.”
“I’m not a private detective, Sandy. I can’t accept money to investigate her disappearance, and frankly, I wouldn’t know how to start.” I felt at a total loss. A woman turns a corner and disappears off the face of the earth. Where do you begin?
“Don’t turn me down so quickly. I know you’re not licensed. I’m not asking you to do anything that isn’t legal. Forget the money; we can talk about that later. If you’d like me to give a donation to your favorite charity, I’m more than happy to do that. I’ll pay your expenses. I’ll give you every picture of her that I have, every scrap of writing that I’ve been able to dig up. I have lists of her favorite foods, her favorite perfume, expressions she always used. And I have a few things that may be useful that I didn’t have when I hired the detective. It’s all yours. My life is an open book; I’ll answer any question you have with absolute truth. Just don’t turn me down.”
My heart really went out to him, but this was so different from the other cases I’d worked on, cases in which I had a personal interest, in which there was some physical evidence, something to go on. What was there here? A balloon floating skyward, an empty street, a crowd of people who had noticed nothing.
“Chris?”
I turned to see Jack standing in the doorway, his coat on and mine over his arm. “Jack. Sandy and I were just talking.”
“You want to stay? I can make it home alone.” He gave me a smile.
“Why don’t you go?” Sandy said to me. “I’ll be in touch. Just think about it.”
I felt troubled and uncertain. “Fine.” I offered my hand and we shook.
“Nice meeting you, Jack,” Sandy said, standing as I did. “So long, folks.”
“You look like you’re not all here,” Jack said as he helped me on with my coat.
“Let’s talk about it outside.”
We found Mel and Hal and said our good-byes, Mel pressing a CARE package on me as we left.
“Thank goodness for Mel,” Jack said as we stepped into the cold, dark winter late afternoon. “At least I’m off the hook for cooking dinner.”
2
“He get you shook up about something?”
“He told me a terrible story, but there’s something else shaking me up. You talked to him, didn’t you?”
“For kind of a long time after lunch. Seems like a nice enough guy.”
“He said he was related to Melanie.”
“He’s her uncle.”
That surprised me. “He looks kind of young to be her uncle.”
“Said he was
In my mind I could see it, the almost invisible man beneath all the balloons inflated with helium reaching for the sky, children with balloons tied to their wrists to keep them from escaping. How sad that such a beautiful, colorful image meant something so evil to this poor man.
“Was she pregnant?” I asked finally.
“I don’t know.” He answered quickly, as though he knew the answer to every question an investigator might ask, and he probably did.
“I’m so terribly sorry for your loss,” I said.
“I want to hire you, Chris.”
I must have looked startled because he said, “Don’t say anything. Just listen for a minute. I have looked for her. I have had a private detective look for her. I have played games with the police while they supposedly looked for her. She’s gone. She’s nowhere. She turned a corner and disappeared off the face of the earth. Whether she’s dead or alive, I must know. I can’t function anymore. I can’t move forward and I’ve never been able to stand still. You have to help me.”
“I’m not a private detective, Sandy. I can’t accept money to investigate her disappearance, and frankly, I wouldn’t know how to start.” I felt at a total loss. A woman turns a corner and disappears off the face of the earth. Where do you begin?
“Don’t turn me down so quickly. I know you’re not licensed. I’m not asking you to do anything that isn’t legal. Forget the money; we can talk about that later. If you’d like me to give a donation to your favorite charity, I’m more than happy to do that. I’ll pay your expenses. I’ll give you every picture of her that I have, every scrap of writing that I’ve been able to dig up. I have lists of her favorite foods, her favorite perfume, expressions she always used. And I have a few things that may be useful that I didn’t have when I hired the detective. It’s all yours. My life is an open book; I’ll answer any question you have with absolute truth. Just don’t turn me down.”
My heart really went out to him, but this was so different from the other cases I’d worked on, cases in which I had a personal interest, in which there was some physical evidence, something to go on. What was there here? A balloon floating skyward, an empty street, a crowd of people who had noticed nothing.
“Chris?”
I turned to see Jack standing in the doorway, his coat on and mine over his arm. “Jack. Sandy and I were just talking.”
“You want to stay? I can make it home alone.” He gave me a smile.
“Why don’t you go?” Sandy said to me. “I’ll be in touch. Just think about it.”
I felt troubled and uncertain. “Fine.” I offered my hand and we shook.
“Nice meeting you, Jack,” Sandy said, standing as I did. “So long, folks.”
“You look like you’re not all here,” Jack said as he helped me on with my coat.
“Let’s talk about it outside.”
We found Mel and Hal and said our good-byes, Mel pressing a CARE package on me as we left.
“Thank goodness for Mel,” Jack said as we stepped into the cold, dark winter late afternoon. “At least I’m off the hook for cooking dinner.”
2
“He get you shook up about something?”
“He told me a terrible story, but there’s something else shaking me up. You talked to him, didn’t you?”
“For kind of a long time after lunch. Seems like a nice enough guy.”
“He said he was related to Melanie.”
“He’s her uncle.”
That surprised me. “He looks kind of young to be her uncle.”
“Said he was
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