Pike followed Betsy Harmon’s directions into the grid of narrow alleys that lined the canals. He crossed an even more narrow arched bridge, then turned onto an alley lined by houses. According to Betsy Harmon, Wilson and Dru lived in the third house from the end on the left side, a redwood home hidden behind an ivy-covered fence. Pike found the house easily, and parked.

The lots along the canals were small, so the houses all had two or three stories and were built shoulder-to-shoulder out to the street, with their front yards facing the canals and their garages flush on the alleys. A carport was carved into Wilson’s house next to a wood gate, but the house and its entrance were hidden by the fence. The carport was empty. Pike was surprised by the house. This was an expensive address.

Pike went to the gate, but found it locked. He pressed a buzzer. A chime sounded inside the house, but no one answered. As he pushed the buzzer again, he noticed a thin young man with straggly black hair watching him from a second-story window at the house next door. The watcher turned away when Pike saw him.

Pike still got no answer, so he went into the carport and banged on the wall. If Wilson and Dru were going to leave, one of them might be inside packing while the other was shopping for last-minute necessities. Hence the missing car.

Pike pounded hard on the wall three times, got no response, and was pounding again when a woman came out of the house next door and called out to him.

“Excuse me!”

She was in her mid-forties with leathery skin, tight jeans, and a tighter T-shirt that highlighted her breasts. She had large breasts, and wanted them seen.

“Are you trying to knock down that house? I can hear you all the way over here.”

“Is this Wilson Smith’s house?”

“Hardly. They’re house-sitting. The owner is in London. He goes there a lot.”

She rubbed her thumb and fingers together.

“Made a load in television.”

This explained how they could live at such an expensive address. House-sitting.

“But Wilson and Dru live here now?”

“That’s right. Is something the matter?”

“There’s been some damage to his place of business. I need to speak with him about it.”

The woman came out into the alley far enough to peer into the empty carport.

“Well, their car isn’t here, so I don’t know what to tell you. I’ll let them know if I see them.”

The thin man came to the door. Close up, he looked like a teenager. He was eating a banana, and squinted as if the sun was overly bright. Pike read them for mother and son.

“S’up?”

“He’s looking for Wilson.”

He headed back into the house.

“I’m gonna lay out.”

“How about looking for a job instead?”