You Belong to Me – 70

 

The three men moved to the side of the room so as not to disturb her.

 

“With shorter hair than in the sketch, I’d say it was definitely him if it weren’t for the nose,” Corey told the others.

 

Darin nodded. “Do you know if he has a brother?”

 

“No clue,” Corey replied. He frowned, staring off into space momentarily. Then he took out his phone and made a call. When he hung up, he looked at the others. “I thought of something, and I was right. Silas works part-time, covering for either me, Archie, or Rob on one of our two days off. He’s at the shelter today, and according to Archie, he didn’t leave, even for lunch. He usually brown bags it.”

 

“This Archie is certain Silas has been there all day?” Darin asked.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Then whoever broke in here wasn’t him. Is there anyone you can ask about his family? Primarily an older or younger brother?”

 

“Other than Silas himself? No. It’s an ironclad rule that all personal information and files are kept private. We’re not even allowed to give out an employee’s phone number or address if we know it.”

 

“Most businesses have rules like that,” Scott said. “For the safety of the employees. It’s possible that Mr. Zimmer, who runs the place, might give you that information, Darin.”

 

“Perhaps, if I came up with a reasonable excuse for wanting it. Even then he might insist on a subpoena.”

 

“Hang on.” Corey took out his phone again. When he reached the shelter, he asked if Silas was available. “Hey,” he said a moment later, “it’s me, Corey. I have a weird question. I was out running errands today, and I could have sworn I saw you, but obviously it couldn’t have been.” He laughed lightly, asking, “Do you have a doppelganger?” He listened to the reply, then said, “You’ve never mentioned him.” After another pause, he nodded. “I feel that way about my brothers sometimes. … Yeah, two of them, both older. Thank God they live hundreds of miles from here.” He smiled a bit at Silas’s reply. “Sorry to have bothered you. I knew it couldn’t have been you I saw, and it was driving me crazy. See you at work on Wednesday.”

 

“So he does have a brother,” Scott said when Corey hung up.