The Safe Man

pointed to an object beneath an old mover’s blanket that was leaning against the opposite wall. Rowan walked over and lifted up the blanket for a look. He then dropped the cloth back down and looked at Brian.
    “It was not a crime to take it,” Brian said. “It was trash.”
    “So you say.”
    “Look, what is going on? Why are you here? Did Robinette say I stole his door? Is that what this is about? I know the guy’s famous, but do they really send the FBI out on a call like that?”
    “No, they don’t.”
    “Then, what is this?”
    There was a pause and the lawmen looked at each other for a moment before Stephens spoke.
    “We’re not worried about you stealing Robinette’s trash. We’re wondering if you stole his daughter.”
    “What?”
    “His daughter, Mr. Holloway. She’s disappeared.”
    Brian thought of the little girl with dark, familiar eyes and the winter dress in the middle of the summer.
    “He said I took his daughter?”
    “It doesn’t matter what he said. We have to check everybody out. You were the last person other than the family to be in that house. We understand that you and Mr. Robinette didn’t get along so well. So we’re starting with you.”
    Brian’s chest felt as though his lungs were filling with wax. They were becoming heavy and hard. Again he thought of the little girl standing precariously at the edge of the safe. It was like she had been waiting there for him.
    “Did you check the safe?” he suddenly asked.
    “What do you mean?” Rowan asked.
    “The safe in the library. When I was there she came in and was standing by the safe. Maybe she…I don’t know, maybe after I left she went back to it. There’s no door, but there was a piece of the flooring that covered it and that I put back in place.”
    Rowan glanced at the shape of the safe’s door beneath the blanket. He then glanced at Stephens and another silent communication passed. Stephens turned and walked out of the garage.
    Rowan looked back at Brian.
    “The safe would be kind of small, wouldn’t it?”
    “The box was pretty deep. It went down at least a foot and a half.”
    “You said she came into the library?”
    “I went out to my van to get the vacuum and when I came back, in she was just standing there.”
    “What did she say to you?”
    Brian thought for a moment. He tried to remember all the details. He was filling with fear for the little girl.
    “She just told me her name and I asked how old she was. I told her she looked older. She said her name was—”
    “Why would you do that?”
    “Do what?”
    “Ask the girl how old she was.”
    Brian shrugged.
    “I don’t know. I guess because we’re about to have a kid—my wife is eight months along—and, I don’t know, I never really thought about the ages of children before. Now I do.”
    Rowan took a few moments to grind over the answer. Brian shifted his weight on the stool and started pumping his knee.
    “Mr. Holloway, you seem agitated. Is something wrong?”
    “Of course, there’s something wrong. That girl is missing and I just have a bad feeling about it. Look, I had nothing to do with it. You’re wasting your time. So do what you have to do with me and get it over with. I’ll take a lie detector, if you want. You can go search my van, too. Just get past me and go find her. Before it’s too late.”
    Rowan seemed to be taken aback.
    “What do you mean, ‘before it’s too late’?”
    “Isn’t that how these things always end up?”
    Before Rowan answered, Stephens came in. He looked at his partner and then at Brian.
    “Safe’s empty.”
    “Mr. Holloway has volunteered to take a poly,” Rowan said. “We can also take a look in the van.”
    Stephens nodded.
    “What about your home?” Rowan said. “Can we look around inside?”
    Brian flashed on the bag of stale dope in the bedroom dresser. Laura quit smoking when they decided to get pregnant. Out of fairness he had stopped as well and the bag had sat in the drawer with his socks for a year.
    “If you’re just going to look around for the girl—closets and stuff—that’s fine. But I don’t want you going through drawers and stuff. Just make it quick. And don’t mess things up or my wife will know.”
    “You know what I still don’t understand?” Rowan said. “You’re in there doing a job for Mr. Robinette and you go and ask his daughter how old she is. Why is that?”
    “I don’t know. I told you. I wondered how old she was. What else do you ask?