There were two people sitting in Adirondack chairs on the front porch of Hester’s cottage, an older man, frail-looking, and a woman small and mousy. They got up, the gentleman not so easily, as Hester and Jimmy approached. Probably married for years, both retired and, for the man, years since he’d seen his hairline; the woman, a sweet smile that highlighted the wrinkles already prevalent on her face. Her gray hair was cut short, no thought to the style. Just regular folk, he guessed, except for one thing. The worried expression on the man’s face.

“Franklin Hardy. Carolyn Hardy. Meet my grandson, Jimmy.”

“Hey, Jimmy, how’s it going?” Franklin asked, extending a hand for a shake. Accepted.

“All is well,” he said, a pat response to a question most people asked while not listening to the answer. “Mrs. Hardy, hello.”

“A pleasure, Jimmy,” she said, her voice soft and her hands clasped.

“Introductions made, let’s say we sit down to lunch and get started.”

Jimmy sensed hesitation on the part of the Hardy’s, his instinct kicking in that not all was right in their world. “Hey, Gran, why don’t you put the finishing touches on lunch and the Hardy’s and I will be in a few minutes.”

“Oh, I’ll go and help you, Hester,” Carolyn said.

“Sure. You men folk go hunt. Us ladies gather.”

Hester wasn’t annoyed, but she wouldn’t be herself to just acquiesce easily. Soon, though, the front door clacked shut, leaving Jimmy with Franklin. He looked thin and pale, a bit unsteady on his feet. Jimmy suggested they take a seat in each of the Adirondack chairs, painted blue to match the daytime sky. Franklin eased down, slowly or maybe carefully was a better term. Jimmy sat too. Wishing he’d remained standing. He thought better on his feet.

He didn’t waste time. Jimmy supposed he didn’t have much of it left.

“Your grandmother tells me you’re a private investigator.”

“Working on it. Don’t have my own license yet. I work for a small firm that provides me on-the-job training. If you want the real deal, I can put you in touch with my boss, Mr. Sullivan ...”

Franklin waved off Jimmy’s offer. “I prefer to deal with someone with just one degree of separation. It’s a delicate matter, a family matter. If Hester speaks highly of her grandson, then it’s good enough for me. And for Carolyn. It’s her I worry about the most.” He paused to steal a look through the windows at his wife, busily setting plates at the table. “To be honest, Jimmy,” Franklin continued, “I haven’t got a lot of time left, and I hate to think of her without me. You know, alone.”

“You have no children?”

“Just one. A son. Pierce. Pierce Emerson Hardy.”

Quite a name. “And where is he?”

“That’s where you come in, Jimmy. May I call you that, Jimmy?”

“I’m not a James. Of course.”

“Thank you. Well, to make a long story short, if I can. We’ve not seen our son in almost forty years.”

“Uh, that’s a long time. I think you’re gonna have to make your short story a bit longer.”

“I just didn’t want to linger on the details.”

“If I’m seeing this picture clearly, you want to hire me to find your son.”

“Yes, I do. Cost is not a concern. What do they say, you can’t go home again?”

Jimmy assumed he meant you can’t take it with you. Maybe it was their son, Pierce, giving Thomas Wolfe credence.

“Forget money for now. Can I ask probably the most delicate question?”

He nodded. Consent enough, Jimmy thought.

“Why did he leave? I’m guessing it wasn’t just leaving home to seek his fortune.”

“He found out something. On his eighteenth birthday. Something we’d held back from him and something, apparently, he could never forgive us for.” Before Jimmy could begin to speculate, Franklin blurted out, “He was adopted.”

“That doesn’t seem like a terrible thing. Sure, a shock ... but enough to cut you out of his life, for ... well, forty years is a long time. Are you even sure he’s still alive?”

“Impossible to know,” he said. “Which is why we need you. To find out if he’s alive, and also to bring him home. We raised him, clothed him and fed him and yes, we loved him like he was our own flesh and blood. For a childless couple, to suddenly find themselves with a baby while in their early forties--it was life-changing for us all, especially since when he adopted him, and of course changed his name. It was best for us all to disappear and start anew.”

Now he had Jimmy’s attention. Sounds like this wasn’t an ordinary adoption, and suddenly he had thoughts of the black market, of a stolen baby. But from the wearisome, worrisome face staring back at him, the reason was about to get worse. Darker. A strange turn of events, since the sun was still as bright as ever, the beauty of nature swirling all around them. Only their expressions were hidden in the shade by the low-hanging branches of a tree, as if only under protective cover could the words be spoken.

“His birth parents were killers. They murdered three of their four children.”

“And Pierce found out that he was the surviving sibling.”

“Find him, Jimmy. Let me reunite him with his mother, with Carolyn. Before I die.”