“You were doing chores for her inside?”
“No. Mostly outside.”
“We’re not saying he did anything wrong.”
“Mostly?”
“Mom.”
“Justin.”
The officer gently interrupted.
“We’re not saying he did anything wrong.”
He genuinely didn’t understand the question.
That wasn’t comforting me.
I looked at Justin.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
He genuinely didn’t understand the question.
“Because what could go wrong?”
Justin was already reaching for his shoes.
The younger officer said, “We’re trying to reach Dorothy’s family. Justin may know something that helps.”
Justin was already reaching for his shoes.
“Then we should go.”
I turned toward him.
“Justin.”
Twenty minutes later, I walked into Dorothy’s kitchen with Justin and the officers.
He looked confused.
“What?”
“You are twelve.”
“And Dorothy’s lost.”
Twenty minutes later, I walked into Dorothy’s kitchen with Justin and the officers.
Justin moved through the kitchen carefully.
The notes were everywhere once I knew to look.
TAKE PILLS WITH BREAKFAST.
TRASH WEDNESDAY.
CAROLINE PHONE NUMBER BESIDE PHONE.
Justin moved through the kitchen carefully.
His eyes moved to the wall phone.
“Birdseed is back there,” he said, pointing toward a cabinet. “She feeds them every morning.”
His eyes moved to the wall phone.
“Caroline’s her niece.”
The officer turned.
“How do you know?”
“Her important papers are in a green folder.”
Justin shrugged.
“Dorothy told me.”
He walked to the kitchen counter.
“Her important papers are in a green folder.”
That was when I stopped thinking of Dorothy as neighbor on his route and started seeing how their routines overlapped.
“How do you know where her important papers are?”
I stared at him.
“Justin.”
“What?”
“How do you know where her important papers are?”
“She couldn’t reach them once.”
When Caroline finally arrived, she came through the front door crying.
That answer landed harder than I expected.
The officers found Caroline’s number beside the phone.
She answered on the third ring.
When Caroline finally arrived, she came through the front door crying.
“Where is she?”
The officer explained Dorothy had been taken for evaluation and appeared physically fine.
Then she noticed Justin.
Caroline pressed both hands over her face.
“God.”
Then she noticed Justin.
Her expression changed.
“You’re Justin?”
Something uncomfortable passed across her face.
He nodded.
Something uncomfortable passed across her face.
“You’re twelve.”
“Yeah.”
She looked at me.
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