Eddie felt a bit dazed. He hadn’t been aware of any of this. Of course, the night had been dark, and cold. He’d been young and very sure of his opinions.
“You were with me when I called on the mother,” Hochman went on. “I assume you remember?”
It had been an honor to be allowed to accompany the Wizard, yet all Eddie recalled of the incident was the inconsolable mother, who sank into a chair to sob. He remembered shifting from foot to foot, uncomfortable in the presence of such sorrow, wishing he hadn’t been granted the privilege of coming along.
“There were other things to consider. The stains on the floor I knew to be blood. The mother told me the boarder had also disappeared. When I opened the door to the corridor where the boarder’s cot was kept, I could feel evil. Say what you will, but evil is real. It’s a living, breathing thing.”
Eddie felt shamed by how much he had missed.
“There was no reason for the mother to think her son’s death was anything but peaceful, so I paid the medical examiner for his silence.”
“And allowed the man who killed him to go free? What kind of justice is that?”
“Justice is God’s to give, not mine. All the same, I kept track of the boarder. He wound up in the Tombs prison and was murdered in a fight the following year. I still see the mother every now and then. She always comes to embrace me.”
“You should have told the police.”
“Exactly why I didn’t go after you when you left, Ezekiel. You were talented, but talent isn’t enough.” Hochman leaned in and lowered his voice, so as to continue in the greatest confidence. “Would you like to know your fatal flaw?”
Eddie flushed with annoyance. He could have easily made a list of Hochman’s flaws, enough to fill several pages. Still, he was curious. “Please do tell.”
“You judge what you don’t understand.” Hochman pulled out an engraved flask, took a sip, then offered it to Eddie, who waved it away. “You want my advice? I’ll give it to you for free, for old times’ sake.”
“I didn’t think you did anything for free.”
“Maybe this is a first. So pay attention. It’s not finding what’s lost, it’s understanding what you’ve found.” Hochman cleared space on his desktop, moving the gold pen set he used to sign his bold signature onto marriage contracts. “Let’s see what you’re looking for now. Put your hands on the desk.”
Eddie threw the older man a look of mistrust. He knew Hochman’s fortunes were often tricks, guesswork at best.
“You tell yourself I’m a sham, Ezekiel, yet you’re here. That just goes to show what a man thinks and what he feels are not necessarily one and the same. Considering you don’t believe in my talents, I would hate to imagine you’re too afraid to hear what I have to say.”
Eddie placed his hands on the desk, palms facing upward. He felt obligated to go along with Hochman. “By all means.”
Hochman grasped a wooden pointer and traced the life line crossing from right to left. “It seems you will have time enough to figure out your mistakes. You’ll live to be old.”
“Does that prediction deserve thanks?” Eddie mocked.
“Does life deserve gratitude? If so, thank your maker, not me.” Eddie noticed there was a white film over the Wizard’s once burning eyes. “This is unusual,” Hochman went on. “In the center is a line, as if there was a river inside you. But there’s an X across the river line, an opposition. So you haven’t changed as much as you think you have. You’re looking for the same thing now as you were when I first met you.” Hochman stared directly into Eddie’s eyes; despite his failing vision, his gaze was mesmerizing. “The only way to understand a river is to jump into it.”
Eddie withdrew his hand. “I don’t need a reading for myself.” He brought out Hannah Weiss’s photograph. “I’m looking for this girl. She went to work at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory on the morning of the fire, and there’s been no sign of her since.”
“I’m honored that you would come to me for advice. If you’re looking for her I can tell you only what I told you long ago. Go back in time as far as you must. Speak to everyone who knew her. If you don’t find her, then in all likelihood she will find you. But you know what to do. Despite your flaws, you were my finest student. So ask yourself this—did you really come to me to find this girl, or are you looking for something else entirely?”
“You have nothing that I want,” Eddie said dismissively.