A list of items, penned in a different script—cursive instead of printing. But lacking the assurance of an adult’s handwriting.

He said, “This note seems to be written by a different person. We’ll bring this back to Breina and Ezra. Find out if this is Noam’s handwriting.”

“What is it?” Rina asked.

“A checklist,” Decker said. “Toothbrush, hairbrush, flashlight, suntan lotion, two shirts, two pairs of pants, socks, underwear…like the kid was going off to camp.”

“Any idea where they went?” Rina asked.

“I haven’t seen anything written down,” Decker said. “But I’ll bet money we should check United’s flights to Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Los Angeles, or Hawaii. Wintertime is around the corner and someone’s packing suntan lotion.”

“You’re going to call up the airlines?” Rina asked.

“Eventually,” Decker said. “First I’m going to check the bedroom.”

It was the same story—dresser drawers pulled out and empty, the tiny closet as bare as Mother Hubbard’s cupboard. The bed was unmade and smelled as if it had been awhile since the off-white linens had been changed. Decker bent down, looked under the bed. He spied a crumpled piece of white cloth, stretched his arm all the way, and pulled it out.

When he unfolded it, Rina gasped.

Tzitzit—the fringed prayer shawls Orthodox males wore under their shirts. It was sized a men’s small. He turned to Jerz. “I’m going to take this with me.”

“What is it?” asked Jerz.

“A religious garment,” Decker said. “I think it belongs to the kid I’m looking for.”

“You’re looking for a kid?”

The time was right. Decker told the super what was going on. Jerz listened, then said he wasn’t surprised, Stremmer always seemed strange. And was always with young boys. Once, when Jerz asked him about it, Stremmer claimed he was a Big Brother.

Jerz said, “But I always think he don’t tell truth.”

Decker showed him the picture of Noam. “Ever seen this teenager before?” He described his stature to Jerz.

The super studied the photo. “No.” He shook his head. “If boy come up here, he don’t look like that.”

“The face isn’t familiar?”

“No, sorry.”

Decker handed him his card. “You hear of anything from either of them, call me at this local number right away.”

Jerz nodded. “Do I still get trip to Disneyland?”

“I’m a man of my word,” Decker said.

It was easier to work straight through than to return to the family and let them know what was going on. So Decker took the coward’s way out and made the phone calls from the Six-Seven. Rina sat by him, checking off flights as he called them out.