Lester lumbered up the gravel driveway to greet the car. Daryl’s braking took the Lab by surprise, and he bounced off the driver’s-side door like a pinball against a bumper. The cone around his neck kept his snout from being snubbed.
“Sorry, Doc,” Daryl said sheepishly. “I could’ve sworn I left him in his crate.”
“I’m glad he’s doing better. And thanks again for picking us up.”
“No problem, Doc.”
Daryl pulled the car alongside the front deck, killing the engine, and Audrey immediately snapped off her seat belt. She bounded out of the car with as much exuberance as Lester had shown ramming into it, all trauma temporarily forgotten. I wondered how long that would last.
Leo made no move to exit the car, so when my father climbed out, I whispered, “Watch them, okay? I need to talk to Daryl.”
He nodded but avoided my eyes. I couldn’t tell if it was because he didn’t want me to see the worry reflected there, or the hurt of what I’d said to him earlier.
Inside, Daryl’s living room wasn’t what I had expected. The floors were stained concrete, and an abstract print played off the gray tufted chair and a purple rug I suspected was wool. An open laptop sat on the simple ottoman that served as a table.
Daryl lowered himself onto the couch, which was covered in a geometric print and positioned next to a large seven-leafed plant. That last part I had expected. The marijuana scented the room with skunk.
“He’s male, but he’s beautiful, so I kept him,” Daryl said.
It took me a moment to realize he was talking about the plant. I asked the obvious question, “Lester hasn’t tried to eat it?”
Daryl chuckled. “Once or twice.”
His frayed jeans and ripped shirt looked incongruous against the sofa.
“Nice place,” I said.
“I inherited the furniture from my sister when she died last year in a motorcycle accident,” he said. “She always had better taste than I did, and, unfortunately, a more reckless nature.”
This from the “pot entrepreneur.” “I didn’t realize you’d lost a sister. I’m sorry.”
“I think she would’ve liked the floors. A customer told me my old carpet dishonored my sister’s memory. Plus, it reeked of weed.”
Daryl crossed his legs, resting one flip-flopped foot on the opposite knee. “So, Doc, why’re you here?”
I had chosen Daryl because a pot dealer’s home wouldn’t be the obvious choice for my family’s refuge. Maybe for good reason.
“My husband’s missing, and a former patient who was helping me was shot to death.” I watched Daryl’s reaction to that second part. His face was stone, his eyes red, hooded orbs, so I told him the rest of it. I figured by letting us into his home, he’d earned the full story.
When I finished, Daryl uncrossed his legs and leaned forward. “Can I be straight up?” he asked.
“Can you be any other way?”
Daryl grinned. “Nah, not really,” he said. “I’ve only met Sam the once, but he seems like a standup guy. Besides, you’re hot. That doesn’t offend you, does it? Because you’re a doctor?”
“Depends on where you’re going with it.”
He nodded as if I had said something profound. “Anyway, so you’re hot, you’re smart, and you’ve saved Lester, even when I couldn’t pay.”
This was pretty much near always, but I didn’t say so. Lester was worth saving. “Not that I don’t love a compliment, or several of them in this case, but . . . ?”
“Why would he leave you?”
“For another woman.”
“Nah, I don’t buy that.”
“You don’t think he was having an affair?”
“Oh, no, he easily could’ve been, but even the woman who told you they’d hooked up didn’t think he’d leave, right? Besides, like I said, you’re hot.”
“So you’ve established.”
“And you’ve got kids and I’m guessing a decent paycheck.” Daryl looked sheepish. “Sorry again for not being able to cover Lester’s surgery, but since pot became legal, it’s harder to make ends meet, you know? I would sell my sister’s furniture, but it’s all I have left of her.”
“It’s fine, Daryl.”
“Anyway, I think you need to strip away all the bullshit and focus on what you know.”
I wasn’t sure what he meant, and my face must’ve shown that, because he added, “What do you know to be true?”
“What do you mean?”
“When you were telling your story, you told me Sam was having an affair, but you don’t know that. You think that.”
“Based on evidence.”
“But you don’t know that.” He settled back on the couch. “There’s this guy I know, Jace, has a turtle named Turtle.”
“Clever.”
“Yeah, he’s stoned pretty much all the time,” said the man sitting next to a potted marijuana plant. “Turtle has unusual markings, on account of when he was little, he got clipped by a weed-whacker.”
I winced at that. “Poor Turtle.”
“Yeah, just missed one of his legs. Curious little bastard always where he shouldn’t be.”
“Like Lester.”
He did that profound nod again. “So Jace’s buddy Joe meets Turtle and insists the reptile is a reincarnation of his dead dad, because the dad’s initials are etched on Turtle’s back. He offers Jace a thousand dollars for Turtle.”
“I’m guessing Joe was high at the time?”
“He’s never not. Anyway, Jace insists the markings aren’t the dad’s initials but a palm tree, and they fight for hours over who’s right, and Joe leaves pissed off and vowing to take back his dead dad. Later that night, Jace notices Turtle’s gone.”
“Stolen?”
Daryl grinned. “See, that’s what Jace thought. He goes to Joe’s house, and Jace ends up heaving a huge rock through Joe’s front window. Gets carted away.”
“Arrested?”
“Carried out on a stretcher. It was a really big rock, and Jace threw out his back.
“So when Jace gets out of the hospital, Joe agrees to keep the cops out of it, says he won’t even charge Jace for the broken window—if Jace gives him Turtle.”
“So Joe didn’t steal him after all.”
“Nah. Turns out Turtle got stuck in one of the bathroom cabinets. Like I said, curious little bastard.”
I got where Daryl was going with his story. “You’re saying Jace just assumed Joe took Turtle and could’ve saved himself a lot of hassle if he’d instead spent a few more minutes searching his house.”
“Exactly right.” Daryl laced his fingers and rested his chin there. “So—what do you know?”
I thought about that. Really thought about it.
“I know Sam disappeared while out trick-or-treating with Audrey.”
He nodded.
“I know he was suspended from work because of rumors he was having an affair with a student.”
He nodded, more vigorously this time. “What else?”