Dotty started to smile, but her face crumpled. She buried her face in her hands.

“C’mon, Dotty.” Benko hugged her. “Everything’ll be all right, honey, just take my word for it.”

Dotty continued to cry. Benko looked up at Hollander and shrugged. He said, “When can we see the kid?”

“I’m waiting for Detective Dunn. She’s the one who’ll accompany you to the foster home.”

Dotty dried her eyes on the back of her sleeve and asked, “Is she okay?”

“The kid? Oh yeah,” said Hollander. “Just fine.”

“I mean she wasn’t beaten up?” Dotty asked.

“No. Not at all.”

“Doug drinks,” Dotty said. “Don’t have no control when he’s drunk. That’s why I left him.”

“Smart move, Dotty,” Benko said. “Smart move.”

Dotty said, “Oh God, I want my little girl back!” She broke into sobs. “He did it on purpose. He don’t love her, he just did it to spite me, the bastard.”

“We’ll get him,” Benko said. “I’ll find him, Dotty. I always do. Something’ll come up.”

Hollander said, “How’d he snatch her?”

Benko said, “Just never returned with her on visiting day. Some asshole judge demanded the sunnabitch have parental visiting rights. Well, like I said, the other three wouldn’t go with him. But a little two-year-old, what does she know? Friggin’ judge. Letting a sunnabitch like him have visiting rights. Dotty tried to tell her about Doug, but the bitch wouldn’t listen.”

Hollander continued to stare at the photo. He asked, “How recent is this picture?”

Benko said, “Why? You know the sunnabitch?” He smiled at Dotty. “See? I told you something would come up. These guys are sharp. Where you know him from, Detective?”

“I don’t know him under the name Doug Miller,” Hollander said. “But the sucker looks familiar. Let me stew on it.”

“Sure, take your time, take your time!” Benko checked his watch, then began to pace. “I got loads of pictures. I’ll start showing them around here again, since you say he looks familiar. When’s the girl coming?”

“Who?” asked Hollander.

“The girl who’s taking us to the foster home.”

Hollander smiled. “Detective Dunn is five-eleven, one-sixty. She’s female, but she ain’t no girl. She should be along any moment.” Still focused on the picture, Hollander shook his head.

“Keep looking, Detective,” Benko said. “It’ll come to you.”

“What did your ex do for a living, Mrs. Palmer?”

Benko said, “I don’t know what he’s doing now, but he was a roofer when Dotty was married to him, right?”

Dotty nodded yes.

“Well, we’ve got lots of laborers living in this area,” Hollander said. “He’d blend in without a second glance. Ah, the detective cometh.”