Brad Dowd said, “I got here an hour ago, bringing my ’63 Sting Ray back from valve work.” The shiny thing in his grip was a combination padlock. “This piece of crap was sitting where the Stinger’s supposed to go. The doors were unlocked so I checked the reg. It’s Meserve’s. There’s something on the front seat that spooks me a little.”

Milo walked past him, circled the Corolla, squinted inside the car, returned.

“See it?” said Brad Dowd.

“Snow globe.”

“It’s the one I told you about. When Nora broke off with him she must’ve given it back. Don’t you think it’s a little weird that he kept it in his damned heap? And parked the heap in my space?” Dowd’s jaw trembled. “I called Nora yesterday, no answer. Same thing today. She doesn’t have to inform me of her comings and goings, but usually she returns calls. I’m going over to her house but first I wanted you to see this.”

Albert Beamish had spied Nora driving away four days ago. Milo said nothing about that. “Meserve ever leave his car here before, Mr. Dowd?”

“Hell, no. Nora uses the main building for the school but the garage is mine. I’m always in a space crunch.”

“Lots of cars?”

“A few. Sometimes I set aside slots in my buildings, but it’s not always enough. I used to keep a hangar at the airport, which was perfect because it’s right near the office. Then all the demand from the jet owners drove the rentals up.”

He jiggled the padlock. “What bothers me is that only Nora and I know the combination. I wanted her to have it in case of fire or some other disaster. She wouldn’t give it out to him.”

“You’re sure of that,” said Milo.

“What do you mean?”

“Nora’s an adult, sir. Maybe she chose to disregard your advice.”

“About Meserve? No way, Nora agreed with me about that lowlife.” Brad lowered his hand and swung the padlock. “What if he forced her to open up?”

“Why would he do that, sir?”

“To hide that thing,” said Dowd. He eyed the Toyota. “Leaving that stupid globe, there...there’s something off about it. What are you going to do about it?”

“Any idea how long the car’s been here?”

“No more than two weeks because that’s when I took the Stinger in for valve work.”

Milo circled the car again. “Doesn’t seem to be much in here other than the globe.”

“There isn’t,” said Dowd, wringing his hands. The padlock clicked. He hung it on the door hasp and returned, shaking his head. “I warned her about him.”

Milo said, “All we’ve got is his car.”

“I know, I know— think I’m overreacting?”

“It’s normal to worry about your sister but let’s not jump to conclusions.”