Trueman Bradley - Aspie Detective (30 page)

“No, it wasn’t wrong,” I said. “That’s one of the reasons why I met Buckley today. We met to use my equation and find that black-haired man we were chasing at Marine Air Terminal.”

“And did you find him?” asked Nora.

“Yes,” I said.

“Wow!” said Nora. “Well, what happened?!”

“Oh, well…” I said, “he’s an employee at a chemical factory. He’s the one who manufactured the thallium sulfate Malcolm used to kill Eddie.”

“What?” asked Nora. “But he didn’t kill Eddie!”

“Yes, I was also confused about that,” I said. “But now I realize my equation can’t identify a murderer if the murderer is already dead. When I used the equation, Malcolm was already dead. Malcolm was the one who was most responsible for Eddie’s death, but he was no longer available because he died. So my equation led me to someone who was less responsible, but still responsible. It led me to the person who made the poison.”

“But the factory employee didn’t kill Eddie!” said Nora. “Why would your equation call him the murderer? He was just doing his job, making chemicals. He didn’t commit any crimes!”

“I know that,” I said, “but my equation doesn’t know that. My equation is logical. And, logically, the person who made the poison is responsible for Eddie’s death. If he didn’t make it, Eddie would be alive. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Nora sighed.

“Not really,” said Nora, “but never mind. Why did the factory employee run away from us if he wasn’t guilty?”

“Oh,” I said. “He said he ran from us because I startled him. He was robbed in that airport last summer. He panicked, and when he saw your gun, he assumed we were trying to rob him.”

“So he climbed down from the roof of a two-storey building to escape us?” asked Nora. “That seems a bit extreme to me!”

“I don’t think so,” I said. “He told me he had over three thousand dollars in his coat. For three thousand dollars I’d climb down from the roof of a two-storey building too.”

“Me too!” said Sal.

“Why did he have so much money with him?” asked Mrs. Levi.

“I asked him,” I said. “But then Buckley said it was not our business to ask him questions like that. He was an innocent man, not the murderer, so we should respect his privacy. That’s what Buckley said and I decided he was correct. I apologized to the factory employee for bothering him and we left him alone.”

Nora sighed.

“I’m glad for Buckley, of course,” said Nora. “He deserves to be chief. But I’m gonna miss having him around here.”

“Miss him?” I asked. “I don’t understand why you think you won’t see him anymore. I just saw him today.”

“And what did he say?” asked Mrs. Levi. “Is he still going to come visit us as often as before? Did he actually say that?”

“Well, he didn’t say that,” I said.

Mrs. Levi frowned and I could recognize her disappointment.

“But,” I said, “I imagine he’ll need to come here often, considering we’re working on a case together.”

“What?” asked Nora.

“Yes,” I said. “That was the other reason why I met Buckley today. We met to discuss our new case. He said he’d give all his cases to our agency from now on. He thinks we’re a good team, so we’ll be doing all the available police cases. We’ll be really busy and Buckley will spend a lot of time here.”

“Wow!” said Nora. “That’s such good news, I don’t even know what to say! I never thought we’d succeed like this when we first started this agency! I’m just speechless!”

“I think you’re wrong,” I said.

“What?” asked Nora.

“You said you’re speechless,” I said. “But you just said something, so you have the power of speech. You were wrong when you thought you were speechless.”

“No Trueman!” said Nora. “Sorry, that’s just an expression! It means I’m so excited I don’t know how to react!”

“Oh,” I said. “I’m excited too.”

“I’m so proud of you, dear!” said Mrs. Levi.

“Thank you,” I said.

Sal put his arm around me and patted my shoulder.

“Trueman!” said Sal. “The best detective I know! Let’s drink to our good friend Trueman, and his many successes!”

Everyone raised their tea cups and knocked them against each other lightly, making a musical sound. I learned, from experience, this was called “making a toast” and was a way of celebrating a success. I lifted my tea cup and smiled.

“Thank you, my friends,” I said.

Everyone was smiling, and we played cards in silence.

“Trueman?” asked Nora.

“Yes?” I said.

“What case are you and Buckley working on?” she asked.

“Oh, nothing too complicated,” I said. “A group of men robbed a house in the area of Riverdale.”

“Robbed a house?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said. “Well, also, it was the house of a military commander and they stole documents that could cost the United States hundreds of soldiers’ lives. Buckley thinks it was gangsters who stole them. I was going to do some math and figure out who stole the documents. But then Nora wanted me to play cards. So, I guess I’ll do it after we’re done.”

My friends were silent and they became perfectly still. I couldn’t recognize what they were feeling. They vaguely resembled mannequins I had seen displayed in a shop window on Broadway, but that didn’t help me to interpret their emotions.

Nora jumped out of her chair.

“I don’t want to play anymore!” said Nora. “I’m so excited about this case, I want to work on it right now!”

“Oh, me too, dear!” said Mrs. Levi. “I can drive to the station and get the military records of the commander! I know just how to do that, dear! Sal, can you drive me there? My car’s got engine troubles!”

Sal jumped from his chair and slapped his thigh. He was smiling widely and I could recognize that he was very excited.

“With pleasure, Mrs. Levi!” said Sal. “Now, this is what I’ve been hoping for! Another case! We’re back in action, my friends! We’ll nail those gangsters and get those documents!”

“Yes!” said Nora. “I can’t wait! I’m going to go home and get my toothbrush and pack my things! I’m spending the night here with you guys! We’ll spend all night solving this case!”

Everyone was so excited, that I could feel it. I couldn’t normally interpret emotion very well. But their enthusiasm was so intense that I could actually feel it in the room, as if it were an electrical force, moving through us all. I realized that I was excited too. I loved detective work and so did my friends. My dreams to be a detective were also their dreams and our dreams had come true. I became as excited as they were.

“Yes!” I said. “We’ll work all night to solve this case!”

Nora gave me a kiss and ran out of the room. Mrs. Levi and Sal followed and I heard the door slam closed as they left the building. I got up from my chair and was so excited, I didn’t know which way to run. I stopped and closed my eyes to think.

“Charts!” I said. “Yes, I will use my charts to make a visual list of everything I must do to solve this case!”

I ran into my new office to make a chart. I opened my boxes, looking for my paper and geometrical instruments. I looked into a small box, covered in packing tape, and found a photo of my granddad. The sight of his familiar, smiling face made me stop what I was doing. I examined his features: the wide smile, the small, unshaven chin, the kindly eyes, the gray fedora. Every feature of his face brought back memories of my childhood; they brought back memories of every kind word he’d given me and everything he’d done to support me and help me through life. He always told me I could do anything, and finally, I believed him.

“Thank you for believing in me, Granddad,” I said.

I felt moisture forming in my eyes and I wiped away my tears with the sleeve of my trench coat. I put the photo in a nearby picture frame and positioned it on my desk.

“Now you can continue to inspire me, Granddad,” I said.

I found some paper and geometric instruments at the bottom of the box and sat down at my desk to trace some perfect circles on the paper. As I considered the predictable perfection of the circle, I found myself delighting in its beauty. Some things were indescribably beautiful. Like this circle; like this moment in time where everything was as I had hoped it would be and life was perfect. This moment was perfect, like a circle.

The circle was beautiful for obvious mathematical reasons. Because it was a perfect circle, with perfect degrees and balanced symmetry. But if there were mathematical reasons why this moment of my life was perfect, I couldn’t identify them.

“Everything can be summed up into an equation,” I said.

I wondered if there were any mathematical reasons that could explain why this moment was perfect, or why George Bellow’s paintings looked perfect, or why Nora’s hair felt perfect against my hand. But I couldn’t identify any pattern or formula that could even begin to explain the beauty of these things.

“Maybe I’ll discover that equation someday,” I said. “Then I can make an invention that can fill my life with perfect moments. But, I’ll stop thinking about it. I don’t want to do anything right now, except to enjoy this perfect moment.”

I savored the scent of New York City and the calming light of the moon. I looked at the photo of my granddad and smiled. I continued making my chart and observed, with keen delight, the perfect arc of my compass as it spun around the diameter to bring together the two ends of a perfect circle.

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