Nick ran his hands through his ginger-colored hair as he squeezed his eyes shut. Normally, he considered himself to be more observant than the others, but here was Lionel telling him that wasn’t the case. “See and smell? Okay,” he said, his brow furrowed in thought. “If there was anything to smell, I admit I missed it because all I could smell was the earth, the rain, and something that smelled like wet fur. I didn’t see them, but I felt hundreds of those tree frogs all around me. For long stretches of time, it was almost impossible to see in front of you with the way the rain was coming down. Some of the patrol I did by pure instinct. At some points, I couldn’t even see the buildings. Give me a clue.”

Lionel hopped around from one foot to the other as he tried to goad Nick into remembering what he’d failed to see. “Think back to other patrols, your route, the things you saw every night, things you were used to seeing. Not out of the ordinary but ordinary. Just part of the patrol. We see it every night, rain, snow, or sunshine, dark or light. It’s always there. Damn it, Nick, think!”

“I am! I am! Nothing is coming to me. It was the rain, it was like a tsunami at some points. Twice I had to stop and wait it out before I could go on. The rain just took over the night. Stop dragging this out and tell me what I missed.”

“Think Magnolia Terrace, second house on the left! Now do you see it?”

Nick’s eyes popped wide. He gave himself a slap alongside of his head. “Mr. Hershel! His cherry pipe tobacco! He didn’t call out! I missed the scent of the tobacco because there was no tobacco to smell. You’re right, Lionel, I missed it, and I’m sorry.”

“I missed it too, and so did Dom. Open up your laptop and check the Happy Village home page. They have a log that shows which tenants sign out when they go somewhere overnight. It’s a mandatory rule for the twice-a-day wellness check the Village provides. The last time Mr. Hershel was away was when he had hip surgery right before Thanksgiving. He didn’t get back to his house until right before Valentine’s Day. He spent almost two months in rehab.”

Nick looked up at Lionel and shook his head. “He didn’t sign out. No one signed out today. Everyone is in residence.”