“Great,” the lady said. “You’re doing wonderfully. Every detail is important, Maisy, and it’s going to help us bring your brother home.”

I straightened up my back. Gloria always told me to do that. Susan was nice. She was a little bit like Mrs. Spooner, but not all covered in wrinkles and brown spots.

“Can I ask you one more favor? Could you look at some photographs? To see if you can find Carl?” She opened the top of the envelope and pictures came out upside down. She made them into a pile.

“Why do you have photos?” I asked.

“Well, sometimes we take pictures of people so we can remember them later. It doesn’t mean they’re bad or dangerous. A lot of these people are just a little lost in their heads.”

“Lost in their heads?”

“That just means they’re having a difficult time.”

“Oh,” I said.

I began to turn the pictures over. One after the other. There were men with smooth heads. Some had broken teeth and saggy red eyes and bony cheeks. One had a funny blue anchor drawn on his neck. But no Carl. I kept turning the photos over, and I was starting to feel afraid I wasn’t going to do my best job for Susan. “It’s okay,” she said. “Take your time. Look at each one carefully.” I looked as hard as I could, but Carl wasn’t there. Then, when I flipped almost the last one, there was someone who could be Carl. Maybe. His hair was long and his beard wasn’t sparkly and his forehead was sort of dirty. Next to the picture of Carl was another picture. A dressy man with a tie and a white shirt and combed hair and no beard. The eyes looked the same, but that wasn’t Carl for sure. Maybe it was his brother.

I tapped my finger on the dirty face. “Him,” I said.

She whirled the picture around and shook her head. I knew I made a mistake.

“Are you certain?”

“Mm-hmm.” But I wasn’t certain at all. I pointed at the other man. “Is that his brother?”

“No, that’s him too. In better times, sadly.” Then she looked at me and smiled wide with lots of teeth. I knew I didn’t make a mistake and I did a good job. I got it right. Carl and the other Carl.