Something Missing_ A Novel - Matthew Dicks [4]
Of course, Martin knew all this and much more because he had screened the Pearls for more than five months prior to signing them on as clients, and he continued to remain as informed as possible about their lives.
Martin did not believe in skimping on research.
Staying as close as possible to the west wall so as to avoid the picture window that faced the street, Martin made his way through the living room to the stairway leading to the second floor. Before ascending, he popped his head into the dining room to his right, doubting that the Pearls had changed this sparsely furnished room in any way (since it appeared that the room went virtually unused), but wanting to be sure nevertheless. An unused dining room was another sign of a couple who had no time to spend enjoying their home. Dinners were often eaten in the kitchen, in a restaurant, or in the car. The dining room, with its black-lacquered, handcrafted Italian table, was as unused as the Pearls’ fieldstone fireplace and dusty Steinway.
Satisfied that the dining room was as sterile as ever, Martin climbed the stairs slowly and methodically, authenticating his purchase on each step before ascending.
Years ago, Jim, Martin’s only real friend, had been reading from a book of lateral-thinking puzzles over pizza and beer when he offered this puzzle to his friend:
A man calls 911 from a home, saying that he is injured and needs help. The police and ambulance arrive, and he is taken to the hospital, where the man is later arrested. What is the man arrested for?
After more than fifteen minutes of yes-or-no questions, Martin finally solved the puzzle. The man who called 911 had been a burglar who had broken his leg coming down a set of stairs in a house that he was robbing. Trapped in the home, with no hope of escape and in great pain, the burglar was forced to call for help and was later arrested after receiving treatment at the hospital. The author of the lateral-thinking book also noted that this puzzle was based upon a true story.
As the solution to the puzzle had dawned on Martin, his heart quickened and his face flushed. Was his friend of almost thirty years aware of Martin’s true career? Was he using this puzzle as a means of broaching the subject, or had this simply been a coincidence?
Martin and Jim had met over a game of Chutes and Ladders a couple weeks into their kindergarten year, when it had become clear to both of them, even at their young age, that no one else was interested in playing with them. Alone in a new world of shiny linoleum, tiny chairs and desks, and inflatable letter people, the two were forced into a friendship that had lasted for almost their entire lives. Though Jim had escaped the isolation of kindergarten and gone on to a more normal life of marriage and children, he had always made room in his life for his friendship with Martin. And for Martin, Jim was one of the only people in the world, perhaps the only person in the world, with whom he was at ease. Therefore, as he solved Jim’s puzzle, he worried that he had slipped in some way. It’s difficult to bluff someone who has known you longer than you’ve been able to read. If anyone could uncover his secret, Martin reasoned, it would be Jim.
After hearing Martin’s solution to the puzzle, Jim had quickly moved on to another, more difficult one, hoping to stump his friend and leaving Martin to believe that the choice of puzzle had been merely a coincidence. But it had also left Martin with a cautionary tale that he took very seriously. As he climbed the stairs to the second floor landing, he was exceptionally careful of his footing on each stair. Only an amateur would allow himself to get arrested by breaking a leg in the midst of a client visit.
At the top of the stairs, Martin turned left, passing by a bathroom and guest room on his way to the end of the hall, where the master bedroom was located. He had been in this room many times, during each visit to the house in fact, but this time would be different. He wouldn’t simply be inventorying Sophie