Then he went down to the second floor and tried 2F. The woman who opened it was in scrubs, and she was hopping on one foot as she pulled on a sneaker. She smiled when she asked if she could help him.
“This is kind of strange,” Theo said, “but I’m trying to help Wayne Reese track down his brother. Do you know them? They live above you.”
“I probably know them better than anybody else in the building,” the woman said as she switched feet. “Not that that’s saying much. Their arguments are my personal soundtrack at this point. Well, all the ones I’ve been home for. I work second shift at the hospital.”
“Do they argue a lot?”
Her smile got a little bigger. “You don’t know them very well, do you?”
“I guess not. Any chance you saw Cal last weekend?”
“A week ago? I can barely remember yesterday. And I’m going to be late, so I’ve really got to go. I’m sorry.”
“That’s ok. Thanks anyway.”
“I hope you find him. Is he ok?”
“We hope so.”
Theo moved down the hall, and behind him, he heard the woman’s keys as she locked the door. Then the woman said, “The fights get pretty bad, you know. I’ve had to call the police twice. Just noise complaints, but honestly, it’s because I’ve been scared.”
Turning back, Theo said, “Any idea what they fight about?”
She shook her head. “Money? Everything? I can’t hear clearly enough to make out the words, but it’s been worse lately.”
“Mind if I ask you one more question?” Theo said.
“Besides that one?”
Theo smiled. “Yeah, kind of a bonus. Memory is a funny thing, and sometimes one thing will help you remember another. Do you remember anything about last weekend? Anything at all? Did you have a visitor? Go clubbing? See a movie?”
“Clubbing?” She shook her head and laughed. “No, sorry. I’ve got a boring life. The big thing for me is when I order a pizza.” Then her mouth widened into an O. “Oh my God, you’re going to think I’m insane.”
“Nope,” Theo said. “I love pizza.”
“You’re right: I do remember something. It’s a tiny thing, but I remember it. I ordered a pizza on Friday; I was off work, so I was home that evening. I always get Gianino’s—”
“Because their crust is the best,” Theo said.
“Exactly. Only their delivery guy isn’t, well, the sharpest. More than once he’s taken it to 3F or 1F instead of 2F. So I poked my head out a couple times, hoping I could catch him. And I saw him.”
“The pizza guy?”
“No, Cal. He was hanging around on the stairs, and I waved at him.”
Theo waited.
“That’s it,” she said. “I mean, we didn’t talk or anything. But he looked like he was waiting too.”
“What makes you say that?”
“I don’t know. Maybe just because I was waiting.”
“That’s fantastic,” Theo said. “Do you remember what time that was?”
“No,” she said with another laugh. “But my phone does.” She checked something and said, “I ordered the pizza at 6:07pm, and it usually takes them a solid half hour. So I was looking out my door around 6:30, 6:40.”
“Any chance you saw him after that? Saturday? Sunday?”
She shook her head. “Sorry.”
“Not at all; you’re amazing. Can I get your name and number in case I need to follow up?”
She laughed and blushed, but she gave him her name, Vicki Miller, and a phone number. She threw sidelong glances at him until they parted at the stairs, and she went down, and Theo went up.
He found Auggie and Orlando in Cal’s room, shoving clothes back into the drawers and straightening up as best they could. Auggie refused to look at Theo. Orlando gave him a single glance and then blushed and looked away.
“A neighbor saw Cal waiting outside around 6:30pm last Friday night,” Theo said.
Auggie nodded.
“She saw him on the stairs,” Theo said, “which makes me think he was nervous or anxious or excited. Otherwise, why wouldn’t he wait inside, where it’s cool? Combined with the drugs, it sounds like he was going to score.”
“Drugs on demand,” Auggie said as he stuffed a sweatshirt into the dresser. “Personal delivery. But why does he need to buy drugs when he’s got cocaine in a shoebox?”
“Maybe he didn’t want cocaine. Maybe he wanted something else.”
Auggie made a face; Theo refused to react to it.
“What do we do now?” Orlando said.
“Nothing. You guys are done.”
Auggie shook his head.
“Is there a problem?” Theo said.
Auggie said nothing.
“Then let’s go.”
They walked outside. Orlando locked the apartment and replaced the spare key under the doormat. Not a great hiding spot, Theo thought. Anybody could get inside. Anybody could get in while Cal was asleep. Or somebody might have thought both brothers were out of town. Somebody who knew they kept drugs and cash and valuable memorabilia in the apartment. Somebody who got frightened when he realized Cal was there, and then an accident happened. Lots of ways things could go bad.
As they went downstairs, the sound of chanting voices came from a distance. Theo could see a crowd moving up the street toward them.
“What’s that?” Auggie said.
“Another demonstration,” Orlando said.
“Demonstration for what?”
Theo and Orlando traded looks.
“What?” Auggie said.
“It must have happened before you got here,” Theo said. “A girl was shot.”
“Oh my God. But what are they demonstrating about? Gun control?”
“A black girl,” Theo said. “She was unarmed, walking alone. A police officer shot her. With everything going on in St. Louis, the Michael Brown shooting, it’s—well, it’s stirred up a lot of powerful feelings.”
“Oh my God. It wasn’t Cart, was it?”
Theo stopped.
“I’m just asking if he’s ok,” Auggie said.
“You’re unbelievable.”
“He’s the only cop I know. It just—I just thought of it. I wasn’t trying to say he’d actually do something like that—”
Theo headed for the sidewalk.
“Theo, come on. It’s a million degrees outside, and you’re going to hurt your knee. I’ll drive you home and I won’t say anything and I’ll apologize as many times as you want.”
Orlando said something Theo couldn’t hear.
“Theo,” Auggie called, “don’t be stupid.”
Theo shook his head and kept going, and after a while he couldn’t hear Auggie anymore. He ran into the crowd of demonstrators, standing to one side as they marched. Men and women, mostly black but with a sprinkling of people from other races. Their banner said JUSTICE FOR DEJA. When the crowd had moved on, Theo started limping toward home again.