“All right,” I said. “I don’t need the details. Let’s go.”

“Where are we going?”

“To Leon’s house,” I said as I stood up. “He’s waiting for us, isn’t he?”

“Does that mean you’re going to help me?”

“How can I not?” I said. “It’s such a heartwarming story.”

“I told ya,” he said. “I know it doesn’t sound good.”

I led the way down the stairs. “Did you say that Leon has already been working on this for you?”

“Yeah,” he said as he caught up to me. “Actually, I had already tried a couple of those person-locator services, but all I had was an address from 1971. I don’t even know her birthday. Leon’s been looking at some stuff, says we’ll probably have to do some leg-work in Detroit. And in his condition…”

“What condition?”

“You know, from his accident. Are you telling me he’s your partner and you don’t even know about his accident?”

“No,” I said.

“He fell off his roof. He was trying to get the ice out of his gutters or something. I tell ya, you guys are crazy living up here.”

“Yeah, we’re crazy,” I said. “Come on, let’s go see what he did to himself. And see if he’s got any ideas about how to find your fortune-teller’s daughter.”

CHAPTER 4

Leon’s wife answered the door. Her name is Eleanor, and the first thing you notice about Eleanor is how large she is. You can’t help it. There was a time when Leon hated me, back when he believed in his heart that I had cost him his job as a private investigator. In those days, I was honestly more afraid of Eleanor than of Leon. They’re both bigger than I am, but something about Eleanor always made me think she’d move a lot faster than her husband.

Since then, I’ve gotten to know Eleanor a little bit, enough to know that she’s a good woman, with a quick mind and a sense of humor. And a lot of patience about her husband’s dream of being a practicing private eye. I’d still take her over Leon, though, if I needed some backup in a bar fight.