Fall Guy

and studied the shrine, picking up a tiny skull, a smooth rock, a small feather, and not picking up what appeared to be nail clippings, hair, desiccated feces, hoping I was wrong about the last item but not willing to do anything to find out.
    There were boxes on the floor of the closet, comic books in one. Those could be worth money. I wondered if they were Tim's, but I didn't see Tim as someone who'd collect Batman and Spider-Man. Still, you never know.
    There were running shoes in one box, a pair of new boots in another. And in the comer, as if it had been tossed there, perhaps when Parker had heard someone at the door, a beaded purse, small and elegant. I picked it up and put it on Tim's desk, wondering if perhaps the purse had belonged to Tim's mother, thinking I'd ask Maggie when I saw her. I put the plastic bag on the desk, too, figuring I'd dump it and go through the things I found, though none of it looked particularly telling at first glance.
    There was a soft rap at the kitchen door. When I opened it, there was Jin Mei with a cup of tea.
    „I noticed the window was open. I thought you might like a cup of tea.“
    I took the cup, celedon green with a brushstroke drawing of bamboo on it, and asked her in. She shook her head.
    „I'm working, too,“ she said, „catching the afternoon light for my painting. Saturday, the same time as now, four o'clock, all the neighbors want to meet in the garden, to remember Tim. We'd like you to come.“
    „Of course.“
    She nodded. „I knew you would.“
    „Is anyone inviting Tim's family?“
    „That will be your job.“
    „His sister will be here anyway on Saturday. I'll call his brother and ask him to come, too.“
    „Good.“
    „What about Parker?“ I asked. „Will he be here?“
    „Irwin said he'd call him. Irwin said it would be bad karma not to invite Parker.“
    „Bad karma for whom?“
    „That's what I wondered.“ Jin Mei smiled and nodded.
    „Is Irwin calling Parker? Does he have his number?“ Thinking I could run upstairs, get it from him, cancel tomorrow's visit, tell him Saturday, after the memorial, would be a more sensible time. Or Sunday, after Maggie had taken the things she wanted, after I had packed up the rest for Housing Works.
    Jin Mei shrugged. „If he doesn't call him, it's fine by me.“
    „Thank you for the tea, Jin Mei.“
    „Don't work too late. You need to sit still and be quiet tonight. You have too much on your mind. I can see that.“
    „True.“
    „You need to empty your mind, sit in the garden, look up at the stars, feel your“—she circled one hand—“to the universe.“
    „Connection?“
    „Yes. You need to do this.“
    „I promise,“ I told her. „I will.“
    When I'd closed and locked the door, I remembered that there was a cell phone number for Parker in Tim's address book that was with the papers I'd dumped out of the briefcase. I went to the desk, sat in Tim's chair, put the teacup down on the napkin from the White Horse with the wrong phone number on it and opened the address book. I picked up the phone and dialed, hoping Parker had it turned off and that I could leave a message and not have to talk to him. But when the phone rang, I heard it in Tim's living room, the sound somewhat muffled but clearly coming from someplace in the room. I put the handset of Tim's phone down on the desk and looked around, but I couldn't see a cell phone anywhere and I wasn't sure exactly where the sound was coming from.
    „Find it,“ I told Dash, expecting to see him rush around the way I would have, looking everywhere for the phone. Instead, he ambled over to the couch and pushed his nose under one of the side cushions, flipping it up onto the arm of the couch. When he turned around to face me, the phone was in his mouth. Not only that, there were other things stuffed in the comer of the couch, as if Dashiell had uncovered a magpie's nest.
    I hung up Tim's phone to stop the ringing, taking the cell phone from Dashiell, telling him he was a good and handsome dog, indispensable and efficient as well. I glanced at the stash in the corner, but wanted to know Parker wasn't coming before doing anything else. His cell phone here, right in my hand, I wondered how I'd get in touch with him now. Without thinking, I opened the phone, thinking I'd call Irwin, ask if he had a number for Parker. I reached for Tim's address book, but it occurred to me that Parker might have Irwin's number on his cell, which was already in my hand.