oiled, reminding me of the White’s tree frog,
Litoria caerulea,
which I’d been researching for the mural. “They put it in the computer. I never see it again. Your friend turns up in a week or a month, and—. Okay, are you the type, when you can’t make a dinner reservation, you call the restaurant to cancel?”
“Absolutely.”
“Okay, so you call me up to say she’s back, or she’s living in Bali with her boyfriend, and I say thanks for letting me know.” He smiled. His smile made him look younger, too guileless for a detective. His baldness made him look older but made his ears more prominent, which made him look younger again. I put him between twenty-nine and sixty.
“So you don’t investigate anything, and you’re just talking to us now to humor us?” Joey said.
“Yeah, pretty much. Next door sends people here, we send them back. Which is okay, I like talking to you. You seem rational, you’re clean, you’re worried about your friend. You’re also good looking, both of you, but I’m not supposed to say that. I think you can sue.”
Joey smiled. “That’s why you’re working in a trailer. All those sexual harassment lawsuits.” Joey had family in law enforcement. She was right at home here, even drinking the coffee, which smelled like it had been brewing as long as Cziemanski had been on the force.
“And if Annika doesn’t turn up?” I said. “Same scenario, except we don’t call to cancel the dinner reservation? We just wait around, year after year?”
“Unless she’s a juvenile, a criminal, or very elderly,” he said, “I’m limited. There’s no law against disappearing. As long as you’re not wanted for a crime, it is, as they say, a free country. Now, you report a lost kid, or a mentally handicapped person, we’re out there in numbers and we stay out till we find them. Or let’s say your friend’s a victim of domestic violence, her husband threatened to kill her last week—I take it that’s not the case?”
Joey and I looked at each other and shook our heads.
“Does she have a drug problem?”
“Maybe,” I said, at the same time that Joey said, “No.”
He looked back and forth at us. “What’d you have in mind for me to investigate?”
“I guess I figured you’d check out her known associates,” I said. “On the other hand, we’re her known associates.” There was also Maizie Quinn, who might feel compelled to show the police the drugs under Annika’s bed, and Marty Otis, who’d describe her as a liar and a felon. What if Annika showed up tomorrow and found herself, thanks to me, facing criminal charges and deportation? Maybe I hadn’t thought this through.
“We have to look at the odds,” Cziemanski said. “This kind of thing, she’s off in some time-share she forgot to tell you about. That’s how it pans out, usually.”
“Unless you’re Chandra Levy,” Joey said.
“Who?” Cziemanski and I said it at the same time.
“A few years back. She slept with a congressman and disappeared, and it was all over the news for weeks. And she turned up dead.”
“Did your friend sleep with a congressman?” Cziemanski asked.
“No,” I said, at the same time that Joey said, “Maybe.”
He looked back and forth between us.
Joey said, “Would it help if she did?”
“Sure,” Cziemanski said. “It’d help more if she
were
a congressman. Anything to set her apart from the other forty or fifty thousand missing Americans. Not including kids.”
“Forty or fifty thousand?” I said. “And she’s not even an American.”
“Well, then. Unless she’s wanted for war crimes, it’ll be tough getting anyone interested. You two the only ones worried about”—he looked at his report—“Annika Glück?”
My heart sank. “Except for some odd people on an odd TV show. And her mother.”
Detective Cziemanski folded the report in half, then unfolded it and added it to the mess on his desk. “I’ve got your numbers. Let me know if anything
Litoria caerulea,
which I’d been researching for the mural. “They put it in the computer. I never see it again. Your friend turns up in a week or a month, and—. Okay, are you the type, when you can’t make a dinner reservation, you call the restaurant to cancel?”
“Absolutely.”
“Okay, so you call me up to say she’s back, or she’s living in Bali with her boyfriend, and I say thanks for letting me know.” He smiled. His smile made him look younger, too guileless for a detective. His baldness made him look older but made his ears more prominent, which made him look younger again. I put him between twenty-nine and sixty.
“So you don’t investigate anything, and you’re just talking to us now to humor us?” Joey said.
“Yeah, pretty much. Next door sends people here, we send them back. Which is okay, I like talking to you. You seem rational, you’re clean, you’re worried about your friend. You’re also good looking, both of you, but I’m not supposed to say that. I think you can sue.”
Joey smiled. “That’s why you’re working in a trailer. All those sexual harassment lawsuits.” Joey had family in law enforcement. She was right at home here, even drinking the coffee, which smelled like it had been brewing as long as Cziemanski had been on the force.
“And if Annika doesn’t turn up?” I said. “Same scenario, except we don’t call to cancel the dinner reservation? We just wait around, year after year?”
“Unless she’s a juvenile, a criminal, or very elderly,” he said, “I’m limited. There’s no law against disappearing. As long as you’re not wanted for a crime, it is, as they say, a free country. Now, you report a lost kid, or a mentally handicapped person, we’re out there in numbers and we stay out till we find them. Or let’s say your friend’s a victim of domestic violence, her husband threatened to kill her last week—I take it that’s not the case?”
Joey and I looked at each other and shook our heads.
“Does she have a drug problem?”
“Maybe,” I said, at the same time that Joey said, “No.”
He looked back and forth at us. “What’d you have in mind for me to investigate?”
“I guess I figured you’d check out her known associates,” I said. “On the other hand, we’re her known associates.” There was also Maizie Quinn, who might feel compelled to show the police the drugs under Annika’s bed, and Marty Otis, who’d describe her as a liar and a felon. What if Annika showed up tomorrow and found herself, thanks to me, facing criminal charges and deportation? Maybe I hadn’t thought this through.
“We have to look at the odds,” Cziemanski said. “This kind of thing, she’s off in some time-share she forgot to tell you about. That’s how it pans out, usually.”
“Unless you’re Chandra Levy,” Joey said.
“Who?” Cziemanski and I said it at the same time.
“A few years back. She slept with a congressman and disappeared, and it was all over the news for weeks. And she turned up dead.”
“Did your friend sleep with a congressman?” Cziemanski asked.
“No,” I said, at the same time that Joey said, “Maybe.”
He looked back and forth between us.
Joey said, “Would it help if she did?”
“Sure,” Cziemanski said. “It’d help more if she
were
a congressman. Anything to set her apart from the other forty or fifty thousand missing Americans. Not including kids.”
“Forty or fifty thousand?” I said. “And she’s not even an American.”
“Well, then. Unless she’s wanted for war crimes, it’ll be tough getting anyone interested. You two the only ones worried about”—he looked at his report—“Annika Glück?”
My heart sank. “Except for some odd people on an odd TV show. And her mother.”
Detective Cziemanski folded the report in half, then unfolded it and added it to the mess on his desk. “I’ve got your numbers. Let me know if anything
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