Open If You Dare by Dana Middleton

Author:Dana Middleton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

21

THE FIRST thing I learn is that Smith is a very common last name.

Ever since the fabric store, I can’t get it out of my head that the father of murderous Martin Smith is living in a nursing home in Decatur. So I make a list of nursing homes I find on the Internet, sneak away to my room with the landline, and start calling.

The second thing I learn is that people who answer nursing home phones are, by and large, not so helpful.

But I keep calling. Each time I ask to be connected with Henry Smith. The first time I think I find him, I’m connected to a Harvey Smith, who sounds really mad that I made his phone ring. The second time, I end up talking to a man named Paul Smith, who is very pleasant. The third time, I get very excited because I reach an actual Henry Smith. But it turns out to be Henry Smith, retired lawyer, not retired butcher.

Finally, I hit the jackpot. When I ask for Henry Smith at the Shady Hills Retirement and Nursing Home, the receptionist says, “Yes, hold please,” and I hold. Butterflies gather in my stomach as my call is transferred to Henry Smith’s room. A lady answers the phone. “Hello.”

“Is Henry Smith there?” I ask.

“Yes,” she says. “But he’s resting right now. May I help you with something?”

“Are you his wife?”

“No, I’m Clara,” she says, a laugh in her voice. “I’m his nurse.”

“Is this Henry Smith of Smith and Sons? I just want to be sure. I mean, is this the Henry Smith who used to be a butcher?”

She doesn’t respond for a moment, then says, “Yes, I think so. I think Mr. Henry was a butcher. Can I take a message?”

I don’t know what to say. I’m prepared to ask questions but not to answer them. “No,” I say.

“Okay, but I’m sure he’d like to know who you are. He doesn’t get many calls these—”

“Could we visit him?” I blurt out.

“Oh, well, it depends. I think I’d need your name for that.”

“Sure,” I say. “I’ll call you back.” And I hang up the phone. I just hang up the phone. In real life, I would make a terrible investigator.

* * *

The next day, I’m sitting at the kitchen table with Ally, Rose, and Zora at Mathematics Camp. But, today, it’s not just mathematics. Today, we are cracking combinations.

I mean for lockers.

When you go to middle school, you get a locker for the first time. Lots of kids have locker anxiety. It’s practically an epidemic between elementary and middle school. As a teacher, my dad knows these things, so he’s getting us ready.

Each of us (even Zora) has a combination lock in front of her on the kitchen table.

“I don’t even know if they have lockers in England,” Rose says.

“But if they do, you’ll be prepared,” Dad says. “And preparedness is one of the key elements to creating calm under pressure.”

Rose shrugs her shoulders. I’m so glad she resists a “whatever.

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