Something Missing_ A Novel - Matthew Dicks [103]
“Well, what have you written so far?”
“Nothing good. Honestly. When there is something worth reading, you’ll be the first to get a copy. Okay?”
“Okay. But I don’t like it.”
The waiter arrived at that moment and took the couple’s order. While they waited for their lunch, Laura tried to engage Martin in conversation, but without his full attention on the task at hand, Martin was failing miserably to carry his end.
“Is there something wrong? You seem a little down. Not yourself exactly. Did I say something wrong? You don’t really need to dedicate the book to me.”
“No, it’s not you,” Martin answered, almost laughing at the thought that Laura Green could ever do anything wrong. “I got news this morning from a friend who is in a bit of trouble, and I’m not sure how to help.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Martin paused for a moment, unsure of how to proceed. In his heart, he wanted to tell Laura everything. The burden of Sophie Pearl’s safety was already feeling like too much to bear. But without telling her everything about his life, he wouldn’t be able to explain his dilemma.
“She asked me to keep this confidential. But let me ask you this: My friend is in trouble, and I don’t know what to tell her. I’ve never dealt with a situation like this before. What do you do when you want to help a friend but don’t know how?”
Laura thought for a moment and then answered. “That’s a tough one, buddy. But if I can’t help my friend, I usually go to someone who can help and ask for their advice. If it sounds right and I can support it, I pass it along. Do you know someone who might be able to help with your friend’s problem?”
“Yeah, I know someone. But he’s not the easiest person to talk to.”
“Well, if you care about your friend and she needs your help, you’ll manage.”
Martin had already considered this option and dismissed it. But perhaps Laura was right. If it kept Sophie Pearl safe and unharmed, he might have to speak to a man he hadn’t seen or spoken to in nearly two decades.
He might have to speak to his father.
After lunch, Martin walked Laura back to her office and received another kiss on the cheek before returning home. Though he had decided upon his next course of action, he wanted to take another look at Clive Darrow’s criminal history and check to see if he had missed anything of importance.
According to the report, Clive Darrow had been convicted of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and first-degree sexual assault seventeen years ago, when he was twenty-two years old and living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It appeared that he had been in prison for fifteen years before being released less than two years ago, when he moved into the home on Ascension Street. Since his three previous addresses were all within the Pittsburgh city limits, Martin could not discern the reason that the man had moved to Connecticut. He had no current employment history listed, and there were no marriages or divorces on record.
But the one thing that Martin could be certain of was that this man was intelligent. His plan to implicate Noah Blake in his own crime (and Martin had no doubt in his mind that this was Darrow’s plan) was brilliant in its simplicity. The only two things Clive Darrow needed to do in order to guarantee its success were to leave no DNA evidence of his own inside the Pearls’ house (something Martin knew that the man could avoid) and to make sure that Noah Blake had no alibi for the time of the attack. If Sophie Pearl was home alone at a time when Noah Blake was also alone, Darrow could strike. And considering the frequency with which Sophie Pearl’s husband traveled on business, and the fact that Noah Blake lived alone, the opportunities for Darrow would be plentiful.
The fact that Darrow had been in the Pearls’ house that morning, likely planting DNA evidence to implicate Blake while mapping out the home for his next break-in, indicated that the man planned to make his move soon. He would likely wait until he was certain that Noah