He closed the car door and drove away.
“So what did your boss say?” Joel asked as Otter got in the passenger seat.
“He’s ready for me to come back to work.” Otter said. “He gave me a promotion and some extra perks.”
“Well, you deserve them.” He started the car and looked over at her.
“Did he apologize?”
“For what? Nothing that happened is his fault.”
“I would think he’d say or do something.”
“He did, he gave me a very privileged position.”
“I guess he did. As long as you’re happy, then I’m good.”
“Yeah, I’m ok with everything and now your mystery is solved.”
“There will be other mysteries,” He said, “And I need to get my office properly set up. I haven’t had time lately.”
“So what is it that you do, exactly?”
“I guess the best way to describe it is to say we’re finders. We do freelance finding.”
“Not much of a description.”
“On the contrary, it leaves it open to interpretation.”
“You and the merry men are finders.”
“So I just said.”
“Hmm.”
“So heroine of the hour, what would you like to do?”
“Well, I have a list.”
“Of course, you do.”
“I think I should go to Michigan. I want to go to Otisville and meet Marvin’s family. I think it’s important that they know what really happened to him.”
“Whenever you want to go, Troy will get us tickets.”
“There are a few small towns there. Otisville was where Marvin was killed and Columbiaville where Mitch was from.”
“So I’ve heard.”
“There’s a third town there I have to go see. I want my picture next to the town sign.”
“Oh really, why is that?”
“It’s called Otter Lake.”
Joel laughed. “Then of course, you must go there. We’ll blow the picture up into a poster and put it in your office.”
“I’ll put it next to my periodic table.”
“Perfect place for it,”
“I need to put the finishing touches on the solar heater for the pool, I promised Susan and Tempest it would be heated this winter.”
“Now that is a noble cause,” Joel said, “swimming in a heated pool is what living in Phoenix is all about.”
“I always thought so,” she said, putting on her seat belt, “and while I’m engaged in this noble endeavor, you can tell me a story while you help with the heavy lifting.”
“What kind of story would you like my lady?”
“Well, I’d like to hear how you knew my late husband and why you would dedicate a veteran’s community center to him.”
“Are you sure you’re not really a detective?’
“Pretty sure.”
“How much trouble am I in?”
“Depends on what you have to say.”
“How do you figure this stuff out? Do you have some kind of special search engine?”
“That would be telling.”
“It’s a really long story with a lot of footnotes and cross references.”
“Then you’d better get started.”
Appendix
Jabberwocky
By Lewis Carroll
’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”
He took his vorpal sword in hand;
Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree
And stood awhile in thought.
And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
“And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”
He chortled in his joy.
’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
* * *
[1] Making steel is a lot like baking a cake. Really.
[2] A colloquialism of mi hija—my daughter
[3] Pronounced heff-ey: Boss.
[4] Rough translation: You can’t make it, fabricate it or heat treat it fast enough but we will pay extra for you to stretch the fabric of the time/space continuum to meet our unreasonable deadline
[5] Flyspeck inspector: person who needlessly finds minutia to examine. The term originally comes from someone going through a container of ground black pepper looking for flyspecks.
[6] He joked with his friends and family that no matter where he was he could call out the name Mackenzie and someone competent would show up.
[7] Duke’s whole head verses Stella’s whole body.
[8] Pronounced moe-lay
[9] The entire poem by Lewis Carol is in the back of this book.
[10] Big Spider.
[11] More about this most unusual poem and the commentary about its meaning can be found on line.
[12] A hard, dense layer of soil found under arid regions such as Phoenix. When people in Phoenix plant trees, they often have to use a jackhammer.
[13] Pen-day-ha: idiot, jerk, asshole etc.
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