“Decker thinks that maybe he’s found Mom’s car. He said you were looking for it at the same spot as he was.”

“And?”

“The car he found wasn’t registered to Mom. So maybe it wasn’t her car. He’s looking into that. Did you find Mom?”

“No, Gabriel, I have not found her. What else did he say about the car?”

Note to self: try not to sound rehearsed. “He said that the car was owned by some Indian guy. Indian Indian. He told me the name but I forgot it.”

“Atik Jains.”

“Yeah, that’s it.”

“Name sound familiar?”

“I don’t know the guy. What about you?”

“No.” Donatti paused. “So you never saw Mom with an Indian man? You were with her a lot more than I was.”

Here was the part where he really needed to sound convincing. “I didn’t see her that much. I was either in school or locked up practicing. The only reason we saw each other at all was because my lessons were in the city.”

“Interesting, Gabe, but you didn’t answer the question. Did you ever see her with an Indian man?”

“I don’t remember Mom being with any man, let alone an Indian,” he lied. “I mean I’m sure I saw her talking to men, but nothing that sticks out as weird.”

There was a long pause. “Okay. If you find out anything, you’ll let me know, right?”

“Of course,” Gabe lied again. “Are you in L.A.?”

“No. I’ll call you if I find your mother.” Donatti was silent. For a moment, Gabe thought he’d hung up. Finally, Chris said, “You okay where you are?”

“They’re real nice for perfect strangers.”

“When the dust clears, you can come live with me. If you want to go back to New York, I’ll get you a housekeeper. Personally, I think you’re best off where you are.”

“I agree mainly because I found a teacher.”

A pause. “Who?”

There was real curiosity in his father’s voice. He and Chris had only two things in common: Mom and music. Both were dominant factors in their lives.

“Nicholas Mark.”

Again, Donatti was silent. “How the hell did you wangle that?”

“His doctor is the hand surgeon that saw me. By accident, he heard me play and afterward he agreed to take me on for a few lessons. I’m hoping my dedication will convince him to take me on permanently. I’ll need someone of his caliber if I have any hopes of doing the Chopin International in five years.”

“What’d you play for him?”

“Fantaisie-Impromptu and ‘La campanella.’”

“You played ‘La campanella’ with a sore left hand?”

“Yeah. I made mistakes but it wasn’t too bad, considering. I was relaxed. I didn’t know I was playing in front of Nicholas Mark. The main thing is he agreed to give me a few lessons.”