Chapter 4.

I parked the bike close to the mobile home, made my way up the steps, and knocked on the door. There was no answer at first, but I wasn't giving up so easily. Of course, there was no car nearby. Maybe Ellie's dad was off somewhere. I knocked again. This time there seemed to be someone moving inside but it took him a while to get to the door. The place couldn't be that big inside.

He opened the door a crack. "Yes?" His hair was a bit disheveled and his eyes bleary with sleep.

"Mr. Cleary?"

"What if I am? What do you want?"

What did I want? "I'm a doctor, and I'm looking for your daughter and grandson. Do you know where they are?"

"My daughter?"

His questions were beginning to get to me. "That's what I said."

He opened the door further, shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. "Sorry. I guess I'm sounding out of it, but you woke me."

"It's three thirty in the afternoon. Even I don't sleep at this hour," I said.

"Yeah, well, I just started a part-time job this week as a night watchman. I gotta get some sleep when I can." He was beginning to wake up and think through what I said. "You said my daughter? Jaclyn?"

"You have two daughters," I concluded. "No, Ellie."

"Ellie doesn't have a son," he said.

"That's what people keep telling me. But the birth records say otherwise."

"A baby!" He ran that hand through his hair again. "We...we haven't heard from Ellie since she ran off with that no-good kid."

"Petey Giordano," I said.

"Yeah, that's the one."

"Is it possible that your wife heard from them and didn't tell you?" I asked.

He shook his head. "We tell each other everything.

That didn't mean I wasn't going to find Mrs. Cleary, but another possible lead occurred to me. "Where can I find Jaclyn?"

"She's in New York. New York City." He didn't look happy about it. "Do you have kids, doctor?"

"No."

"I know Willa and I weren't able to give our girls all that we wanted, but we tried. Really hard. But Eleanor ran off with Petey Giordano, and then Jaclyn decided she could make it as a model in New York."

"Is that what she's doing there?" And why was it I had more questions than ever?

"No. Oh, I guess she's gotten a job or two, but she's supporting herself as a waitress, still dreaming big."

Waitressing jobs seemed to run in the family. "Were your daughters close?" I asked.

Cleary nodded. "I guess I can give you Jackie's address. If anyone knows where Ellie is, she will. She's never said anything to us, though."

"Thanks." I waited while he rummaged through some papers on a table that seemed to hold mail, mostly bills, and store circulars. From what I could see of the inside of the home it was nicely laid out and well-kept.

Eventually he found an envelope. "That's her address," he said. "I'll write down the number, too." He added it to the back of the envelope and handed it to me, then sighed. "I hope Ellie's OK. A baby? It's heard to get my head around."

"Well, thanks for your time," I told him. This time I meant it. Here was a father who couldn't figure out where he went wrong, but he did care for his daughters.

"If you find her, tell her to give us a call," he added, standing in the doorway and watching me get back on my bike. "We may not be able to do much for her, but we'd like to meet our grandson."

"Sure." I took off again, down the road, heading back to the town. Before I contacted Jaclyn Cleary, I wanted to talk to her mother.

The laundromat wasn't hard to find. It was fairly empty this time of day. A thin woman with a drawn face and stringy brownish hair sat at the counter, staring out into the street.

I approached her immediately. "Mrs. Cleary?"

She looked up and forced her eyes to focus on me. "Yes. Do I know you?"

I'd decided to be completely straightforward with her. She struck me as the type of person who'd be confused by anything more convoluted. "My name is Gregory House. I'm a doctor in Princeton and I examined your grandson about two weeks ago. Eleanor brought him to our clinic."

I could see her process this information. "Ellie has a baby?"

"Yes, a boy, Christopher. I believe she and Peter Giordano are married and that Peter is the father," I told her.

"Oh!" She covered her mouth with her hand.

"I need to find them, but no one here in town seems to know where they are," I went on. "Your husband said you haven't heard from Ellie." I waited to see whether she'd confirm or deny that. It was still possible she'd heard from her daughter, and just not told her husband.

She shook her head. "Not since she ran off."

"Was there anywhere you think she might have gone? Any other relatives who'd help her?" I knew I should have asked her husband that, too, but I'd just thought of it.

"No. At least I don't think so."

"Well, if you hear from her, or from anyone who's seen her, please call me," I said. "Your husband gave me Jaclyn's address and number, and I'll check with her, too."

Mrs. Cleary nodded. "Maybe she contacted Jackie."

"I did have one other question, Mrs. Cleary. Can you tell me whether anyone in your family suffered from any diseases? Things like hemophilia or cystic fibrosis?"

"No," she said.

"And you, your husband and daughters are all well?"

"Yes. I guess one thing we've always had was good health."

I couldn't think of anything else to ask her, so I thanked her and left her to deal with a customer who was complaining because her clothes still weren't dry after an hour in the dryer.

Before I got on my bike, I looked up and down the street, wondering if there was anything else I could learn in Dorsey before heading home. I hadn't gotten any closer to finding Ellie and the baby, but I'd learned a lot about the families that she and Petey came from. How that fit into my investigation, I wasn't sure. I decided it was time to head home. I'd done enough walking and talking for the day. It was time to let Google do some for me.

As I got closer to Princeton I hit some traffic and had to slow down. When I did, I let my mind wonder through what I'd been told and had observed. My first impression of Nina Giordano hadn't changed. She was beautiful even when she didn't smile. Her sister Jess was more observant. Some might consider her pretty in her own way, but compared to her sister, she faded into the background. The two of them tried to pretend that they were close, but there was an underlying antagonism between them. I wondered what had caused that.

Their father was another story. People think I'm cold and egotistical, yes, and dismissive of others, but Peter Giordano Senior? He was even more of a bully. He certainly didn't think much of his son. In fact, noone I'd talked to had a kind word for Petey. I'm sure he was as much of a disappointment to his father as Ellie and Jaclyn were to their parents. I could relate to that.

I stopped for some Chinese take-out for dinner and while I waited for them to bring the paper bag filled with little white boxes, I turned my thoughts to the Clearys.

At first Eleanor's father struck me as a pathetic loser. But it was obvious he'd tried to do well by his family. He hadn't given up, not entirely. I think he'd hoped his daughters would appreciate all that he'd tried to do for them even when he failed, but that hadn't happened. Was he depressed? Being as well acquainted with that condition, I'd say he was. Still, he loved his family and showed much more concern for Ellie and the baby than the Giordanos had.

His wife seemed very like him on the surface. I wondered if there was more passion deep down, passion that had been drummed out of her by circumstances. She, too, cared about her daughters. Yet neither she nor Mr. Cleary had made any effort to find Ellie. I didn't usually give people the benefit of the doubt, but maybe in this case there were reasons for that, reasons I didn't know.