I drove home from the laboratory, parked the Franklin beside the garage, and called out to Kate as I opened the kitchen door. It was a habit of ours to let each other know we were home safe and sound. Ordinarily Swes would call back, but not this time. The house was as still as a tomb. Thinking she might be taking a nap, I climbed the stairs and found her room empty, with the door wide open. Kate was nowhere to be seen. She had cleaned out her drawers and closet, taken her travel bags, and laid the key on her writing desk, where I’d be sure to spot it. She had insisted on locking our bedroom doors at night ever since we had that rash of robberies a few years ago.Surely, I said to myself, my sister has just gone off unexpectedly to Oberlin or Cleveland. She’ll be home in a few days and everything will return to normal. I didn’t want to admit that she had walked out on me. It was Carrie who finally broke the news. Swes hadn’t said a word. She hadn’t even left me a note. The typewriter was sitting empty on her desk.
