Over rainbow sherbet, Gus Kramer had minced no words. “When we’re ready to quit, we’ll quit, not before. What would I do with myself all day?”

Late Monday afternoon, as Lil was knitting a sweater for the expected first child of one of the former students, she was thinking about Winifred’s well-meant but irritating advice. Why doesn’t Winifred understand that I love being with these kids? she fumed. For us, it’s almost like having grandchildren. She certainly never gave us any.

The ring of the telephone startled her. Now that Gus was getting a little hard of hearing, he had raised the volume, but it was much too loud. You could wake up the dead with that racket, Lil thought as she hurried to answer it.

As she picked up the receiver, she found herself hoping that it wasn’t Winifred following up on her retirement speech. A moment later, she wished it had been Winifred.

“Hello, this is Carolyn MacKenzie. Is this Mrs. Kramer?”

“Yes.” Lil felt her mouth go dry.

“My brother, Mack, was living in your building when he disappeared ten years ago.”

“Yes, he was.”

“Mrs. Kramer, we heard from Mack the other day. He won’t tell us where he is. You can understand what this is doing to my mother and me. I’m going to try to find him. We have reason to believe that he’s living in the area. May I come and talk with you?”

No, Lil thought. No! But she heard herself answering the only way possible. “Of course, you can. I…we…were very fond of Mack. When do you want to see us?”

“Tomorrow morning?”

Too soon, Lil thought. I need more time. “Tomorrow’s very busy for us.”

“Then Wednesday morning around eleven?”

“Yes, I guess that’s all right.”

Gus came in as she was replacing the receiver. “Who was that?” he asked.

“Carolyn MacKenzie. She’s starting her own investigation into her brother’s disappearance. She’s coming to talk to us Wednesday morning.”