kick a while back, so I’ve been trying to locate as many of my relatives as I can.”
Ruby looked at me like I had two heads.
“That’s so wonderful,” Ruth said. “Young people these days don’t put enough value on family, if you ask me.”
“I’ve been trying to reach him, but I haven’t been having any luck,” I said.
“I’m not surprised,” Ruth said.
“Is that why you’re collecting his mail?” I said, tapping the mailbox. “Is he out of town?”
“I am collecting their mail,” Ruth said, her pleasant voice now tinged with worry. “But it’s not because they’re out of town. At least, I don’t think they are. You see, I reported them missing to the police several months ago. I’ve been collecting their mail ever since. The police offered to put a stop to it—the mail, I mean—but I don’t mind, really. It’s taking up only a couple of boxes in the garage. It’ll be easier for them to go through it all when they come back.” She paused and reflexively put a hand on Bucky for comfort. “If they come back,” she said, finishing the thought.
I thought about handing her the O Magazine we had in the car, but that felt a little too creepy. We’d keep the magazine. Hell, I was already a criminal. “How long has it been since you’ve seen them?” I asked.
“Three months, thereabouts,” Ruth said.
Three months is well before I became Elliot Uretsky, I thought. “I never saw Elliot all that much,” Ruth continued. “Mostly, I’d see Tanya working in her garden.” She pointed to the brown patch of land that lay barren like a stain on the earth. “I kept telling Tanya to plant more perennials, but she preferred what she preferred.”
“Why do you think they’re missing?”
“Well, because nobody has seen them, of course.”
“What about their friends?” Ruby asked.
“Oh, they are private people.”
“Coworkers?” Ruby asked.
“They both work from home,” Ruth said. “He’s a computer consultant, I think.”
“And Tanya?” Ruby said.
“She makes jewelry and sells her work online.” Ruth showed us her earrings—dangling silver triangles with an embedded green gemstone. “She gave me these before they vanished. Beautiful, aren’t they?”
“Beautiful,” Ruby said.
“Anyway, when March came around and I hadn’t seen Tanya outside once, I just got the feeling that something was wrong.”
“What did the police say?” Ruby asked.
“Well, that’s the crazy thing,” Ruth said. “Did you know that it’s not that simple to report an adult as missing? They could just be gone.”
“Is their car still here?”
“No. It’s gone. The police checked the garage.”
“Did the police go inside the house?”
“They did but didn’t see anything suspicious. They think they just up and left.”
“You must think that, too, because you’re collecting their mail.”
“I’m collecting their mail, but I don’t agree with the police,” Ruth said.
“What do you think happened to them?” I asked.
Ruth turned around and pointed toward a yellow clapboard house fronted by green shutters set slightly askew and a lawn that stuck out because it rivaled the Uretskys’ for its lack of landscaping.
“I told the police to look at Carl Swain,” Ruth said.
Bucky seemed to slink away at the mere mention.
“What’s wrong with Carl?” Ruby asked.
“I’ve seen him lurking around the Uretskys’ house. Peeking into their windows.”
“That is creepy,” Ruby said.
“Carl would drive by slowly if Tanya were out gardening. I’ve seen it happen several times. I told this all to the police, of course, but they never got back to me.”
“So you think Carl Swain has something to do with the Uretskys’ disappearance?” I asked.
Ruth nodded. “And so does Bucky.”
“Your dog?” I said.
Bucky perked up, and his tongue dropped out of his mouth. Ruth said, “I believe animals have a sixth sense.”
“I’ve read somewhere that dogs can detect cancer and other diseases,” Ruby said, looking at me.
I looked back. It could explain Bucky’s powerful reaction to Ruby and not to me.
Ruth nodded. “That’s true,” she said. “Some dogs have fifty times the scent receptors as humans.”
“So does Bucky bark at this Carl fellow?”
“He won’t let me walk him on that side of the street,” Ruth said, the pitch of her voice dropping to signify the ominous connection.
“Has Bucky met Carl?”
“On a number of occasions,” Ruth said. “And if you thought he barked at Ruby, you should have seen his reaction to Carl.”
I admit that Ruth got me curious. I didn’t really believe in doggie detectives, but I was desperate to find Elliot Uretsky, and willing to believe that Bucky’s barking at Carl Swain was some kind of lead.
“Maybe Carl has cancer,” Ruby suggested.
Ruth’s