The Misfortune of Marion Palm by Emily Culliton

Author:Emily Culliton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2017-08-08T04:00:00+00:00

Missing Persons

The detective takes some time off from the calls to speak to Walter’s veterinarian. The vet is invested in Walter’s survival and the functioning of his kidneys. The detective finds it difficult to dissuade the vet from taking these extraordinary measures. The detective believes that if Walter was his cat, he would be able to tell the vet to put Walter down, but Walter’s all that’s left.

The detective knows that missing people do not leave a void for long, because detritus rushes in to fill the empty space, and as mundane as that detritus usually is, it must be acknowledged. Some may point to the detritus as a saving grace, something to take one’s mind off a missing person. The detective knows this is false. The detritus has no meaning. It’s just there, and the missing person is not. Still, the detective will regret killing the cat. However, he will not pay for feline dialysis.

As a distraction from Walter and the missing boy, the detective investigates Marion Palm in a cursory manner. He reads her work profile on the school’s website. It lists her current projects, and it seems that there are a lot of them. Marion smiles grimly in her headshot. She looks like she has better things she could be doing.

He clicks on Marion’s latest project, which leads him to a gallery of architectural renderings. He recognizes the exterior of the building, but the inside looks like a spaceship. Realistic cartoons of students with backpacks slung over their shoulders traverse the corridors in friendly pairs and trios. He clicks the bottom link: DONATE NOW. Instead of taking the detective to a user-friendly fundraising site, the link apologizes to him for any inconvenience, tells him that the Wing Initiative is taking a brief hiatus, and instructs him to call a phone number with any questions. The detective gets off the phone with the vet by confirming Walter’s next appointment. He calls the number. Daniel picks up.

Forty-five minutes later, the detective is able to work himself out of this conversation, but he has a list of odd and seemingly random things Daniel has told him. Marion Palm is with a sick relative. Nathan Palm is an alumnus of the school. The school is being audited. Ginny Palm has been suspended. The Wing Initiative has been shelved. Daniel may be developing a slight drinking problem (it’s not that Daniel is drinking in the morning; it’s just that he’s starting to want to). Everyone knows that Marion Palm married up.

It’s against protocol, but the detective dials Nathan’s cell. Nathan accepts the call after one ring, even though he doesn’t recognize the number. He says, “Where are you?”

The detective identifies himself and asks if Nathan would mind coming into the precinct to answer a few more questions. “When?” Nathan Palm asks. “How about right now,” the detective replies. Nathan says, “Now is not a great time.” The detective asks why. Nathan can’t say why and tells himself that it will be easy to find his missing daughter.

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