“You’re right. That’s hard to believe,” Steve said. “Why would anyone want to steal your car? You sure it didn’t just roll away? Have you looked at the rest of the parking garage?”

“It’s gone,” she said. “It’s been stolen.”

“Must have been one of them mercy stealings,” Elsie said. “That car was pitiful.”

Daisy flapped her arms some more. “How am I ever going to manage without my car? How am I going to get to work? How am I going to go grocery shopping?”

Steve tried to look sympathetic, but he was having a hard time keeping the grin off his face. He hated that car. “I wouldn’t worry about it. It only gets a couple miles to a quart of oil. I’m sure it’ll turn up before long. All we have to do is listen for a traffic jam.”

“I know it wasn’t such a great car,” Daisy said. “But it was all I had. I can’t afford to buy a new one.”

“I have an extra car,” Steve told her. “I’ll loan you mine until yours is found.”

“That’s very nice of you, but I couldn’t possibly accept.”

“Yes you can. I can’t drive two cars at once. I don’t even want two cars.” He turned to the policeman. “Is there anything else?”

The officer shook his head. “I have all the information I need. If she comes to the station tomorrow, she can pick up a copy of the report for insurance purposes.”

“Well, I’m going home,” Elsie said, heading for her Cadillac. “I got a date tonight. I told Clarence Funk I’d go to bingo with him.”

Steve took Daisy by the hand and led her to his SUV. “We should go home, too. If the police find your car, they’ll call you.”

She was quiet on the ride home. She stared straight ahead, lost in thought. Every now and then her lower lip quivered ever so slightly, and she’d clamp down hard on it with her front teeth.

Steve reached over and covered her hand with his. “It’s only a car,” he said gently. “You’ll get another one.”

“It’s not the car so much,” she said. “It’s being a victim of a crime. I’ve never thought about it before…never experienced it. It makes you feel very vulnerable.”

“Maybe it was a mistake,” Steve said. “You know it was a little disreputable-looking. Maybe it accidentally got towed away.”

She brightened at that. “And when the garage discovers its mistake they’ll bring my car back!”

He slowly drove down his street and parked in front of his house. The black car was parked in the driveway. “In the meantime, you’re going to drive my car. It’s worthless to me. Bob doesn’t fit in it, and it takes up space in my driveway.”