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that. We all do. And his doctor says that he’s doing great in other ways. Grandpa is really strong. He was able to get out of bed almost right away—with help—and his doctor says that’s good. His right side is weak, but his left side is fine. He’s already getting around upstairs with a walker. The physical therapist says he’ll be ready to tackle the stairs any day now. I know Grandpa can’t wait. He hates being cooped up like this. I promised him as soon as the doctor said it was okay, we’d go to the mall and people watch.”
    â€œThat’s great,” I said. “He’s lucky you’re here.” I considered my next question carefully as I buttoned my coat. “Isobel, how did you know I know Nick? Did your grandfather tell you that in his e-mails too?”
    She shook her head. “He told me about Nick and about you, but he never said anything about the two of you being friends.”
    Friends
.
    â€œBut upstairs, you said you knew that I knew him.”
    â€œNick had a picture of you in his backpack. It fell out one day when he was getting ready to take Orion for a walk.”
    Nick had been carrying a picture of me? Even after he’d seen Ben and me together?
    â€œI asked him if it was a picture of his girlfriend,” Isobel said. She blushed. “He’s so quiet, you know? I was trying to find out if he was seeing anyone.”
    I held my breath.
    â€œBut he said it was just a picture of someone he knew from the animal shelter. That’s how I knew he knew you. Then the next couple of times he came over, another girl came with him. She was kind of dirty-looking, but Nick seemed really friendly with her. Is she his girlfriend?”
    â€œI don’t know,” I said. Nick hadn’t even said I was a friend. I was just “someone he knew.”
    â€œI thought he was nice,” Isobel said. “And I know Grandpa likes him. He told me he’d hired him as a dog walker. He said Nick was really smart.”
    â€œIs that all he said?”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œDid he tell you anything about Nick’s past?”
    â€œYou mean that he’d been in trouble before?” She shook her head. “My dad was really mad when he found out that Grandpa let Nick into the house even though he knew that he had a record.”
    Isobel walked me to the door.
    â€œYou told Grandpa that Nick said he didn’t take those coins,” she said. “Do you believe that?”
    â€œI know he isn’t a thief,” I said.
    â€œBut the police said—”
    â€œI know it looks bad, Isobel. But I also know Nick. He likes your grandfather. He respects him. I can’t believe that he would steal from him.”
    Isobel looked doubtful.
    â€œWhat does your grandfather think?” I asked.
    â€œI know he’s upset that his coins are missing. They were important to him. He’s been a collector forever. At first my dad didn’t want to tell him about the theft—Grandpa was in the hospital when it happened. But he needed Grandpa to sign some papers for the insurance, so he had to. I was there when he did. I saw the look on his face. He was so sad when my dad told him what the police had said.” She looked at me. “My dad says Nick had probably been waiting for the opportunity to steal from Grandpa.”
    I could see how someone might think that—someone who didn’t know Nick, like Isobel’s father, or someone who had a low opinion of him, like Glen. But that didn’t make them right. I pulled on my mittens and reached for the doorknob. I had delivered Nick’s message. I had checked on Orion. But I hadn’t learned any more than Beej’s DVD had already told me. I turned back to Isobel. There was one more thing I needed to know—for me this time, not for Nick.
    â€œI heard that Nick got into some kind of argument with your mother. Is that true?”
    Isobel