The Merchant of Menace

arguing and tried to pick up a bin. The other officer tried to stop him. There was a short tussle and the trash driver got back in the truck, making an obscene gesture. The truck moved on.
    Mel called to Jane. She and Shelley nearly ran to his summons.
    “You took the kids to the movies already, right?“
    “Half an hour ago.“
    “Good. I wouldn’t like to have to arrest Sam Dwyer in front of his daughter.”

Twenty-four

    “Poor little Pet,“ Julie Newton said, swinging her leg as she sat on one of Jane’s kitchen chairs. “How’s she taking it?”
    Jane was loading the dishwasher. “Well. Much, much too well. Very stoic. She’s upstairs with Todd, building a new gadget for the hamster cage as if there were nothing wrong. I’m really worried about her.”
    Dinner was over. Thelma had gone home, satisfied that the extra child at the family Christmas Eve dinner was with them because her father was ill. Everybody else knew the truth, but it was agreed among them that Thelma would ooze sympathy from every pore and probably drive poor Pet around the bend if she knew about Sam. The weather had turned warmer, but it was foggy, which made the Christmas lights on the houses along the block seem misty and blurred.
    “How on earth did you figure out that it was Sam Dwyer? He seemed like such a nice man. So devoted to his daughter.“
    “Too devoted,“ Jane said. “His marriage was falling apart, he didn’t approve of his frivolous, fun-loving wife, but was apparently afraid she’d divorce him and keep Pet. Mothers usually do get custody. So before it could happen, he kidnapped Pet, moved away, and told Pet her mother had died.“
    “But how did you know that? How did you even guess?“
    “She’s psychic,“ Shelley said, coming in from the living room where she’d been watching Christmas Mass from the Vatican on the television.
    “No, really,“ Julie insisted.
    “It was the egg cartons first,“ Jane said. “Mel had described some footprints that were found near Ginger’s body. He said they were blurry and rectangular. It sounded like some kind of weird shoes or boots. But I wondered at the time why somebody who obviously didn’t want to be identified would deliberately wear footgear that was so easily identifiable. Then, this morning I was holding two egg cartons and it suddenly occurred to me that you could tape them to your feet, then just put them back into the trash and nobody would ever associate them with shoes. Which is exactly what Sam did. Some of the duct tape he used to keep them on his feet was still on them.“
    “But why did you think of Sam? We all have egg cartons,“ Julie persisted.
    “Because I’d seen them in his recycling bin when we went there for dinner. That’s the only reason he even crossed my mind. But egg cartons made me think of milk cartons. Pet told me she had to drink special milk. I tasted hers at her house and it tasted exactly like the ordinary milk you get in paper cartons.“
    “Because it was,“ Shelley added.
    “I don’t get it yet,“ Julie said.
    “It wasn’t the milk that was different,“ Jane explained. “It was the container.”
    Julie thought for a minute, then her eyes opened very wide. “They have pictures of missing children on them!“
    “Right. And Sam didn’t dare risk Pet ever seeing her name or one of those ‘age-enhanced’ pictures on a milk carton,“ Shelley said.
    “I still could have been badly wrong,“ Jane said. “It was all just mental leaping around. But it gave Mel what he needed. He immediately contacted the missing-children people in Florida. It literally only took seconds because Sam hadn’t even attempted to change his name. He just took Pet and left one day while his wife was at the grocery store.“
    “We should have realized something had changed when he wanted to be invited to the cookie party,“ Shelley said.
    “Right,“ Jane said. “He hadn’t wanted anything to do with the neighbors until then. I’d invited him to the caroling party and he didn’t even respond, much less show up. Then suddenly the next day, he wants to be involved in neighborhood activities.“
    “And wanted to be chummy with you in particular,“ Shelley said.
    Jane made a face at her. “What’s so weird about that?“
    “You’ve been here in the neighborhood all this time, but as soon as Lance King was killed right next door to you after being in your house, he’s suddenly interested in you. That’s what’s