Michigan Avenue is more of the same, plus a healthy dose of Henry Ford, the patron saint of the American automotive industry—the Ford Engineering Laboratory, the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, the Ford Motor Company World Headquarters. But then I start to see signs for traditional Yemeni food, Haraz Coffee House, Lebanese take-out, and Ozoor Driving School. And then, across from a small park, I spot a RE/MAX sign on an Indian restaurant that has the name Yousef Hassan and a phone number. The restaurant has a general air of abandonment, the windows dark and dusty, the RE/MAX sign starting to show signs of wear.

According to Google Maps, the address Ellie Mangum gave me for Yousef is several blocks north of Michigan Avenue, within walking distance of a mosque. This neighborhood looks just like Alice’s, tree-lined streets and skinny lots that run deep. Yousef’s home is a white clapboard house with green trim and a porch that runs across the entire front of the house. A new dark-blue Cadillac sedan is in the driveway. I drive around the block and park on the street three doors down from Yousef’s house. It’s seven thirty, time for good real estate agents to be getting up. I call the number that I saw on the RE/MAX sign on Michigan. It goes straight to voice mail and I leave a message using my Alice James alias, saying I’ve been on the lookout for a restaurant location and am very interested in the property he has listed on Michigan Avenue. I add that my business partners are very eager to close a deal soon, then leave my cell number and disconnect. I look up commercial real estate in the area, seeing how many other restaurants are up for sale. After twenty minutes, I call Yousef and leave a second message, saying there’s another location in Claytown but I’m really interested in the Dearborn property, and I leave my number again. Five minutes later, my phone rings.

“Alice James,” I say.

Yousef’s voice is full of cheer, as if nothing could make his day happier than talking to me. “Miss James, this is Yousef Hassan from RE/MAX returning your call. How are you?”

“Well, Yousef, I’ll be a whole lot happier once my partners and I find a property.”

“Then we need to help make that happen,” he says. “Are you here in Dearborn?”

“I am, but only for today.”

“I’d be very happy to show you the property you called about. Would eleven o’clock work for you?”