The Children's Corner

Chapter 34

"What are you looking at?" Dana asks as Alexis scrolls through an article on her phone.

"An 'In Memorium' in Variety. Madeleine Silverstein just died."

"I didn't know she was still alive," Dana admits.

"I guess a lot of people didn't. She retired from the stage 17 years ago. Gram took me along to visit her when I was seven. I don't remember much about it, except that I thought she smelled funny."

"Maybe 2-Nonenal," Dana suggests. "That's the aldehyde that increases body odor as people age."

"Uh-huh," Alexis agrees. "That was probably it. And the whole apartment kind of smelled that way."

"What kind of apartment?" Dana queries

"As I said, I don't remember much. It looked kind of big. But things always look bigger when you're little."

"You know," Dana mulls, "a lot of people are put off by odors. They may not even consciously know why. So that apartment might still be available."

"And if it is," Alexis considers, her eyes brightening, "we could probably get the smell out with orange oil. That takes out almost anything. I'm going to call a real estate woman Dad recommended. She handles some celebrity clients. So she might know."

"Kate!" Rick calls from the door of the twins' room. "I might have something on Mitchell Meadows."

Kate looks up from the rocking chair. "Sweet! I think Reese is almost finished." She sniffs the air. "But Jake needs changing again. Can you take care of it?"

Rick picks up the newly aromatic infant. "Since your mother is at Reese's service, I'm at yours," he remarks to Jake. "Hmm, the barnyard babies gracing your tush wrappers are right in their element. But at least no one will be stepping in your output." A stream of liquid arcs as Rick is making his replacement. He grabs for a wipe while regarding his apparently pleased son. "If you didn't like my commentary, all you had to do was say so."

Kate smiles in sympathy. "He got me last night. OK. Reese is fed and dry for the moment, I think. So as soon as you get Jake squared away. We can put them in the swing, and you can show me what you dug up."

Dropping into his desk chair, Rick points at the screen of his laptop. "This article is from the Survivalist Stories website. It's about a Devon Meadows. In the early eighties, he built himself a cabin in the middle of nowhere, except that it was on a stream. According to this, Devon was an expert forager, kind of like MacGyver. He could live for months at a time without any human contact, except for his young son."

"Does that son have a name?" Kate inquires, leaning over Rick's shoulder.

"It isn't given in the article. But that's a public records thing. So it shouldn't be hard to find out. Searching – now!"

Kate grins as the information appears. "Mitchell. Devon Meadow's son is Mitchell Meadows. Want to bet he's in a cabin in the woods?"

"Hopefully not the one in the Whedon/Goddard movie."

Alexis gazes around the ground-floor apartment in a brownstone on the edge of Harlem. This isn't as big as I remember, but it's interesting. I studied plasterwork like that in art history."

"Madeleine Silverstein moved in here in the 1920s," real estate agent Lois Byers explains. "She used to own the whole building. But during the depression, she had to sell it and lease this apartment from the new owner. The brownstone changed hands again during the latter part of the Harlem renaissance, but Madeleine stayed. Her apartment was covered under rent control laws, and she couldn't afford to move when the neighborhood went into decline. Her time on stage and the quality of her roles were declining with it."

"My Gram told me that Miss Maddy was old school theater. She refused to do movies and wouldn't even watch television," Alexis puts in.

"That was too bad and not very smart. She let this place go to hell," Dana observes. "The floors need refinishing, and the woodwork is all scratched up. Did Ms. Silverstein have a cat?"

"She had ten of them," Lois admits.

Dana nods. "Which also accounts for the…."

"Atmosphere," Lois fills in.

"I was going to say stench," Dana finishes drily.

"Look, Ms. Byers," Alexis interjects, "this place needs a ton of work, or it would have rented the second it went on the market. And it would cost the owner a fortune to have someone come in and take care of it. But we can do it. Right, Dana?"

"If we get enough of a break on the rent to justify it. And we'd need a long enough term to know we won't get tossed out for a more lucrative tenant the minute we get it fixed up."

Lois shakes her head doubtfully. "I'll talk to the owner and see what he says."

"Alexis and I have to move quickly. We'll need an answer by close of business tomorrow," Dana demands.

"I'll see what I can do," Lois promises.

Alexis giggles for most of her short walk with Dana to the subway. "You were a great bad cop. I didn't know you had it in you to look that stern."

"I watched my father dealing with some of his security clients. I think I channeled him. But someone could still come in and grab that place out from under us if they're willing to accept the condition it's in."

"They'd have to accept that Madeleine Silverstein died there too. And they'd better not be allergic to cats."

"Neither one of us will have any trouble with the chemicals to take care of the smell," Dana figures. "And we've both used protective gear before. But what do you want to do about the floor and the woodwork? That would be a big part of our deal. I guess we could work on it bit by bit while we go through the steps to find a child."

"I think we can do better than that," Alexis announces. "Hudson has a restoration class that meets during the summer. It doesn't always have an easy time nailing down project sites. We could offer that apartment. The students will get credit for honing their skills, and we'll get the work done for free."

Dana grabs her for a heartfelt kiss. "You're brilliant!"

Alexis pokes his ribs. "You're just finding that out now? Osnitz could have told you years ago."

"Actually, he did."

"So, what did Mallory say when you passed on the results of our superlative detective work?" Rick asks as Kate shoves her phone in her pocket.

That Captain Grimwald will have a fit about funding an expedition into the woods to search for Mitch Meadows. He suspects she's going to see if she can get the locals to do it."

"They may also be stretched pretty thin up there, budget-wise. Some of the wealthier landowners recently changed their official residences to Florida to save on taxes. I know about it because some of the better-selling authors of my acquaintance decided to take advantage of that particular loophole. Having the well-feathered birds fly south would leave a void in the money nest."

"Law enforcement can't leave a guy who took out a mother and child sitting in his hideout because there's no money to go get him!" Kate protests.

"Kate, I know you'd like to go charging up there, but even if you weren't on leave, you have your maternal tether to Jake and Reese. But I have an idea who we could send."

"Who?"

"Papa Wygard. This is the kind of job Bart's been wanting to get his teeth into for a long time. He can locate the cabin, and if Mitch is there, call in the troops."

"I think he'd get a kick out of that."

"Yeah," Rick agrees. "I do too."