Mrs. Apusenja led the way upstairs, across the short hallway to a small bedroom. She was wearing pink rubber flip-flops that slapped against her heels and hit the floor at an angle so her heel was always half off the shoe. Her toenails were massive, painted a virulent shimmering purple. I was directly behind her and from my angle her ass looked to be about three feet across.

“This is Samuel’s room,” she said, gesturing to the open door. “It’s so sad that it’s empty. He was such a nice young man. So polite. Very respectful.” She said this cutting a look back at me, sending the message that she knew I had none of those wonderful qualities.

Ranger and I stepped inside the room and I was hit with a wave of claustrophobia. The double bed was neatly made, covered with a green, yellow, and purple-flowered quilted bedspread that shouted yikes. The curtains matched the bedspread and hung over seasick green sheers. The walls were plastered with outdated calendars and thumbtacked posters, subjects ranging from Winnie the Pooh to Springsteen, the Starship Enterprise, and Albert Einstein. There was a nightstand beside the bed and a small desk and rickety chair wedged between the bed and the wall.

“You see, it’s such a nice room,” Mrs. Apusenja said. “He was lucky to have this room. We have a room in the basement that we also rent out on occasion, but we gave Samuel this room because I knew he would be a suitor for Nonnie.”

Ranger rifled through the nightstand and desk drawers. “Was Samuel unhappy about anything?”

“No. He was very happy. Why would he be unhappy? He had everything. We even allowed him kitchen privileges.”

“Have you notified his family of his disappearance?”

“I have. I thought perhaps he was suddenly called home, but they have heard nothing from him.”

Ranger moved on to the desk. He opened the middle drawer and extracted Singh’s passport. “New York is his only entry.”

“This was his first time away from home,” Mrs. Apusenja said. “He was a good boy. He was not one of those good-for-nothing wanderers. He came here to make money for his family in India.”

Ranger returned the passport to the drawer and continued his search. He abandoned the desk and went to the closet. “What’s missing from the room?” Ranger asked Mrs. Apusenja. “What did Singh take with him?”

“So far as I know, just the clothes he was wearing. And his backpack, of course.”

Ranger turned to look at her. “Do you know what he carried in his backpack?”

“His computer. He was never without his computer. It was a laptop. It always went to work with him. Samuel was very smart. That’s how he got such a good job. He said he got his job over the Internet.”

“Do you know his email address?” I asked.

“No. I don’t know anything about that. We don’t own a computer. We have no need for such a thing.”