The Murray Residence
Thursday, 3:30 p.m.
Michael was dozing on the sofa when a knock on the door woke him. He sat up and smoothed his hair with his good hand, expecting the visitor to be Sophie, but then a voice boomed, “It’s Tanaka, I still have a key, so don’t get up.” A second later, the door opened and Tanaka entered.
He raised a foil pan. “Marisol’s mother sent enchiladas. And Copeland says you’d better get well soon because he doesn’t think he can take much more griping about her mother.”
“Tell him to get shot. That’s how I got a break,” Michael quipped.
Tanaka put the pan in the refrigerator, then came into the living room and sat in the chair he’d taken the day before. “I don’t know why Mari’s sending food if you’re well enough to be back at work,” he said, leaning back and crossing his right ankle over his left knee.
“Back at work?”
“Yeah, all that legwork you did last night. I told you to take it easy.”
“I just went to the theater and got a few names. I was trying to help.”
Tanaka nodded, then said, “It did give me a head start, but now you are off this case for good, you hear me?”
Michael raised his good hand in surrender. “Loud and clear. I saw the doctor this morning, and I’ve been resting since then. I’ll leave the search for Emily up to you from now on. Is there any news on that front?”
Tanaka wagged a finger at him. “Ah, ah, ah. There you go again.”
“Oh, come on, Tank, you only got involved in this because you were worried about me. Aren’t you worried what I might do if I don’t know what’s going on?”
Tanaka sighed as his shoulders sagged. “Okay, but this is totally off the record. You didn’t hear it from me. I’ve got a memo out to see which of our guys were at the diner that night, and the waitress is meeting with a sketch artist this afternoon. I talked to the friends, and I’ve gotta say, they don’t add up.”
Trying not to show any reaction, Michael asked, “How so?”
“They seem surprisingly hazy about events after they left the diner. They didn’t remember any other person joining them—didn’t even remember the guy asking for an autograph, but they remember getting home with crystal clarity. It’s weird.”
“I was wondering if you’d catch that.”
“You got the same thing?”
“Yeah. Do you think they’re behind it?”
“My gut says no, but I’ve gotta go with the evidence and consider them persons of interest, at the very least. Not only do they not have alibis, but they were with her when she vanished and claim not to have noticed.” He paused, then asked, “Have you talked to your ballerina today?”
“I had breakfast with her. Why, haven’t you?”
“Not yet. Haven’t heard a peep from her.”
Michael wasn’t sure he should say anything, but Tank needed to know, so he said, “I get this strange feeling that she’s not all that interested in the investigation. She flew all the way here, but I had to talk her into calling the police. It was my idea to go to the theater and talk to people. She rolled her eyes at the fliers the theater people were handing out. She hasn’t called you for updates. She seems to care about Emily, but she’s not trying too hard to find her. Not through the normal channels, anyway.”
Tanaka was too good a detective not to pick up on the way he worded that. “What do you mean?”
Michael wished he’d kept his mouth shut, but now that he’d brought it up … “I caught her coming in early this morning. She said she’d only been out a couple of hours, but she was wearing the same clothes she had on last night, and she was all scratched up. I think she’s investigating on her own, and whatever she’s looking into, she didn’t tell you about it.”
“She may have just been going around to Emily’s favorite places, looking for her.”
“At that time of day? And coming back scratched and bruised?” Michael shook his head. “No, there’s something about her that doesn’t add up, something I don’t get.”
Tanaka nodded slowly. “I ran her for priors, and she’s so clean she squeaks. Not so much as a parking ticket. I did a quick Internet search, and from the looks of things, she pretty much runs her hometown. She’s all over the local paper. It’s a miracle the place hasn’t collapsed in the day she’s been gone. Otherwise, she teaches ballet and dances with a regional company. There’s some mention of a bunch of international dance awards, which makes it look to me like she way outclasses everyone else in the company, but I don’t know anything about that stuff.”
“See, she doesn’t add up,” Michael said.
“Last I heard, lack of ambition wasn’t a crime.”
“Can you really imagine her lacking ambition? She’d see world domination as an achievable goal.”
“I checked with the airline, and she’s on the passenger list for a flight leaving Shreveport early yesterday morning. She was in the air at the time Emily didn’t show up for cast call at the theater. Unless she hired a hit or is part of some conspiracy, she couldn’t have been involved in her sister’s disappearance.”
Michael shook his head. “No, I don’t think that. I just feel like there’s something very important—crucial even—that she hasn’t told you and that she’s doing on her own.”
Both men flinched guiltily when there was a knock on the door and a voice called out, “Detective Murray? It’s Sophie.”
“Come in,” Michael said.
She burst into the apartment, looking nearly as frantic as she had when she left the night before, then skidded to an abrupt stop when she saw Tanaka. “Oh, Detective Tanaka, hello. I didn’t realize you were here,” she said. After a pause, she added, as though just then thinking to ask, “Has there been any progress in the investigation?”
“I’ve been following up on the leads you two got last night,” Tanaka said.
She nodded. “Good, good. That’s good to hear.”
“Was there something you needed?” Michael asked.
“Oh! Yes, I was wondering if you have a skillet I could borrow. Preferably cast iron. You can’t make proper corn bread without it, and Emily doesn’t have a very well-equipped kitchen.”
Michael was starting to get used to Sophie’s non sequiturs. “Actually, I have Emily’s skillet. She usually cooks in my kitchen because it’s bigger than hers.”
“If you have an Easy-Bake oven, you’ve got a bigger kitchen than she does. Do you mind if I take the skillet?”
“Be my guest. I’m not using it.”
She went into the kitchen and emerged seconds later with the skillet, holding it by the handle and hefting it like she was preparing to brain someone with it. “Sorry to have interrupted,” she said, heading toward the door.
“I’ll see you at the vigil tonight,” Tanaka called after her.
She stopped and turned around, frowning. “The vigil?” Then the light dawned in her eyes. “Oh, yes, that. You’re planning to attend? That’s very considerate of you.” There was the slightest hint of sarcasm in her voice.
“It’s actually very cynical of me,” Tanaka replied with a grin. “You’d be surprised by the number of kidnappers and killers who can’t seem to resist showing up at these things. And, you never know, I might find more witnesses.”
“I’ll see you tonight, then, Detective,” she said with a forced smile. Pointing at Michael, she added, “And you should rest. I think yesterday was too strenuous for you.” She escaped rapidly enough that neither of them had a chance to say anything else.
Tanaka stared after her for a moment, then he turned to face Michael and the two of them exchanged a look. “Okay, you’re back on the case, but only for this one thing,” Tanaka said. “See if you can find out what she’s hiding. But don’t do anything stupid or dangerous. Talk to her, see if you can get her to open up. If you find anything interesting, let me know.”