I’M BACK AT the Williams Coffee Pub this morning. It’s a long bus ride up here, but I figured getting out of the downtown would be a good idea. Give me a change of pace. Now that I’m up here, I was thinking I might take a trip somewhere, maybe take a train to another province, or go camping. It would be nice to go back up north and take in some of the fall weather. There are fewer mosquitoes this time of year. And I enjoy camping … so long as there isn’t too much camping involved. A day or two is my limit.
The Group of Seven used to go up to Algonquin Park and other nearby parks for inspiration. They’d stay in a lodge, then canoe out for the day, paint small sketches of the woods, then come back and paint larger works based on those sketches.
Maybe that’s what I should do: go visit the Tom Thomson Art Gallery. I think it’s in Owen Sound. There. I’m making plans to do things. Good for me.
The coffee’s okay. Comes in a ceramic mug. A big one. I’m thinking about soaking it up with a scone or some other pastry. There’s a big, illuminated menu board behind the counter, but the pastries are on display behind glass. Maybe I’ll have a look after I get this next part down.
I took a day to recover from the whole kidnapping and drugging ordeal. Lacroix called me at some point to make fun of me, as he does. Wondered why anyone would want to kidnap me, and if I was busy wrecking any marriages.
I laughed along with him and ended the call mid-sentence, as he was about to make another joke. I then googled the lingering side-effects of sodium thiopental, which is what the paramedics figured they dosed me with. A prescription side-effects website told me what to expect later today while brewing up a strong cup of coffee.
When I’d downed two to three cups, I quelled the nausea and drowsiness with some dry toast. As soon as I finished the last bite, I called Vijay and let him know what happened. He was obviously shocked at the direction the case had taken, and was adamant that I take a couple of days to recover—also that he was pulling me from the case. I was to stay away from Jim and anything he might be involved with. I explained that there were a few angles to sort out, and that if Jim was involved, he (and possibly) his wife could be in danger. Vijay didn’t care about that. Said he was more concerned with my health. Because his company would be liable if I was injured on the job.
I told him thanks. I was glad he cared so much. And then I hung up on him in mid-sentence.
My phone showed that I’d missed a call from Jim’s wife. In the voicemail message, she asked if I could come over. She had some important questions about the case.
I called Jim’s wife back and apologized for not being available. Told her I’d been tied up. I’m a walking dad joke, I know.
She said her husband was still not home, and this seemed much too long for him to be out of contact with her. She said she’d called him several times, and it went straight to voicemail. I tried to reassure her about the situation, but it felt pretty insincere, considering all that I had just been through. I told her I was still on the case, and I would try to find out where her husband was and what was going on.
A few questions popped into my head while we talked. I asked if she had heard anything about Jim’s health. If any doctors had called over the past couple of months, and if she suspected he was sick at all.
She thought about it for a moment, but said everything seemed normal. Although, he had been losing weight. But she thought that might be part of the pattern of infidelity. That and the new toupee. And the gym membership.
The gym membership. Maybe that was a clue. If he had a private locker at the high-end athletic club, maybe he had a change of clothes or something that might lead me to him. She told me it was the Vine Athletic Club on Victoria. I thanked her and told her not to worry. And that I’d be in touch in the next day or so.
I had a plan which involved some subterfuge. To accomplish that, I’d need a disguise. To accomplish that, I’d need to do some shopping.
And to accomplish that, I’d need to get my rental car back from the last place I saw it. I picked up my phone and called a cab.