I chewed on my salad and let Carl think about what I said for a while. His silence was telling. “Something wrong with your meal?” I asked. “Not hungry?” I pointed to his plate.
He shook himself out of his thoughts. “N-no, no. I’m s-sure it’s good.” He grabbed a fork and stabbed a tomato.
“Okay. As I was saying, that’s my biggest lead. If I can get this guy to come forward, I might be able to procure a warrant and do a search. Oh, so you know, I was robbed, just like I thought I would be.”
Carl was looking uncomfortable. “Y-yeah? The jade’s gone, huh?”
“Yup.” I started on my bisque.
“Y-you’re gonna get it back, right? That thing cost me a f-fortune,” he said.
“You will, I promise you that.” And a whole lot more.
We were silent as we finished our appetizers. After the main dishes arrived, I asked, “You know, you never told me much about growing up. What was that like? Are your parents still living?”