Quinn called back just before our bedtime. When I heard his voice, my heart jumped, not knowing if he'd been told by Martha of Julie's earlier treachery. Apparently not. Instead I listened to his harangue about the difficulty they encountered with the session I'd practically demanded, the break-ins in Boston. It took three tries bracketing the time before they hit on the culprit. Quinn made me listen to the details of each unsuccessful attempt before he finally, got around to the facts.

"Howie says the guy was tall and skinny and acted strangely. He wore a mask and spent a lot of time in the apartment."

"How did he act strangely?" I asked.

"He didn't seem to be there to burglarize the place; it was like he was searching for something. He pulled the joint apart."

"Did he find what he was looking for?"

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"We don't know. The guy was there so long, Howie came back before he was finished." Quinn yawned in a show of how exhausted he was after what he considered this time-wasting chore I'd assigned.

"It definitely wasn't our Delabama guy?"

"Hell, no. How would he even know Julie existed?" He paused before saying he thought Howie suspected it might have been Molly's father or some old boyfriend.

No one ever mentioned Molly's other parent. "Did Howie ask Julie about that possibility?"

"Naw. He said Julie never talks about that old stuff and my guess is he doesn't want to open a can that might be messy."

This was one more example of Howie turning away from anything that might prove uncomfortable. As long as the burglar wasn't our stalker, I didn't give a flip.

"How did you do on the attempted break-in at Ethel Reagan's place?" I asked, knowing they probably hadn't tried. I was right but at least they had an excuse. Howie's mother took a turn for the worse and he'd been advised she wouldn't make it. It was only a matter of days.

"As long as we're here," Quinn said, "Can Betsy get us some leads on missing kids? I'd like to think we were doing something worthwhile instead of wasting our time on pointless errands." I told him I'd have her call him first thing in the morning.

I took time before retiring for the day to telephone Martha with the good news Julie's break in was a false alarm. If I expected a warm response, I was mistaken. While she sounded relieved, there was a chill in the air like opening the door, expecting warm sunshine and forgetting it's December. Neither of us mentioned her conversations with Quinn, or the lack thereof. She was ready to hang up but I added the sad news Howie's mother, her aunt Rose, wasn't expected to live.




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