Was there going to be more? He caught me staring uncomprehendingly at him.

"A rubber tree. More specifically, a Pará rubber tree. Found in the Amazon. Most likely in the Pará state of Brazil."

Brazil? The Amazon jungle? Well that certainly narrowed it down to a few million square miles.

"You were kind of lucky. The tree in the painting resembles a rubber tree, but as I said…"

"Yeah, I know. The painting sucks."

He ignored me. "What finally tipped me off was the white slash in the trunk. It hit me that someone had cut into the bark. The white is latex oozing out. That's what they make the rubber from. How important is the tree to the picture?"

I wasn't sure how far to go with an explanation. Luckily, he saved me the trouble.

"I'm not asking to pry. I just have a theory."

"It might be very important. I'm hoping it's a clue to a bigger mystery. I don't know yet."

"Well, if it is, I think the artist put the white slash there on purpose."

I gave him a questioning look.

"There is no real reason the tree should be sliced like that. There's no tap in it, or bucket at the end of the slice to collect the latex. If you've got latex flowing out, you're going to want to collect it. I think the artist knew he sucked and drew the latex into the picture to help identify the tree." He threw up his hands. "Just a thought."

Not a bad one.

"Your idea is something to keep in mind. So can you pinpoint it any closer than that?"

"The Amazon jungle in Brazil doesn't do it for you? You want latitude and longitude? Directions?"

He was starting to sound like Seymour. It was time to leave.

"No, the Amazon narrows it down nicely. I appreciate your help."

"Yeah," he said, looking at the clock. He gathered up his class notes and beat me out the door.

I called Sabrina as I walked to my car and gave her the news.

"Wow, the Amazon," she said. "So where does that leave us?"

"Not quite sure."

"No colorful relatives who lived there?"

"Not that I kn…" I stopped because Sabrina was interrupting me.

"Didn't you tell me you had a relative who got thrown out of South America?"

"Oh my God, yeah. And it was the same great-grandfather who started this whole thing. But it was never specified where."

"What do you want to bet?"

"I don't. I'm sure you're right, but it still doesn't get us any closer."

"Nowhere you can find out more information on his early life?"

"His early life? Look how long it has taken us to find what we have so far."

"Well, there's got to be something."

"Let me work on it." Well, it sounded good anyway.

"Okay, keep me apprised. I love you."

"I love you, too." How many years had I waited to be able to say that to someone?