Benjamin had removed his sweatshirt to fold it carefully on the cracked linoleum. He knelt down on it to recite his morning prayers, but when the radio came on, he looked up, his thin face anxious.

“No news,” I said. “I’ll turn it back on when you’re done.”

I cleared space on the enamel kitchen table. Budget figures, the sports pages from a week’s worth of papers, school essays and advertising catalogs were all jumbled together. I swept them into a pile without trying to organize them-if he needed to find something, Father Lou would sort through the stack. I’d seen him do it a number of times, looking for old sermon notes. He’s the only person I know more disorganized than I am.

I set down eggs, tortillas and cambric tea-a little tea and a lot of hot sweetened milk-for Benjamin and me. We both needed our blood sugar raised about now. I took a couple of aspirin from the bottle in my day pack and swallowed them with the tea. Maybe they would persuade my sore shoulder to calm down.

Benjamin finished his prayers with a defensive glance at me. His prayer schedule must have anchored him during his long days alone, given him something to rely on. His father’s Koran, his father’s prayer schedule, like my mother’s vocal exercises: the routine of the beloved makes you feel that the beloved is with you.

“News now?” he said. “Please you are finding out of Catterine.” “About Catherine,” I corrected him absently.

“About Catherine,” he echoed.

I turned the radio back on. Finally, at half past the hour, we got the local news.

Responding to a complaint from neighbors, DuPage County Sheriffs deputies raided an abandoned house in unincorporated New Solway early this morning. According to Sheriff Rick Salvi, an Arab man wanted for questioning in connection with the September 11 attacks had been hiding in the house. The man made his escape through a third-story window as deputies were storming the house. As they combed thegrounds, a local girl was injured by a gun shot. The sheriff’s office refused to confirm reports that one of the deputies fired the gun, but the injured girl is Catherine Bayard, who was taking a late walk through the fields behind the home of hergrandfather, Chicago publisher Calvin Bayard. Sheriff Salvi has said it’s possible Ms. Bayard was shot by the wanted man; he will issue a full report after he has inspected his deputies’ weapons. Ms. Bayard is in an area hospital in serious but stable condition.

The wanted man was in the same house where Chicago investigator VI. Warshawski found a dead body on Sunday night. Warshawski was actually in the house when sheriff’s deputies arrived on the scene, but left while they were still searching the grounds. Whether she has a connection to the missing man is unknown at this time, but Sheriff Salvi is anxious to talk to her.

“And I to you, Sheriff” I switched off the radio, turning to Benjamin. “How much of that did you understand?”