“There is a great deal I have not explained,” he said, “and I’m afraid I owe you both some honesty. Miss Ruiz, would you be kind enough to bring me a glass of water? This may take a while.”

What Eli Wants

Tessa fetched the water herself, from the little kitchenette down the hall, and returned to find the room exactly as she’d left it, the old man upright at the head of the table, Marcus beside him, both of them silent. She set the glass down. Eli thanked her with a nod and took one small sip, like a man tasting a wine he did not entirely trust.

Then he unbuckled the strap of his leather satchel.

“You are both probably wondering,” he said, “why a man who lives on a pension and a few savings would walk into a bank and ask for thirty-eight thousand dollars in cash.” He drew out a small, black, hardbound notebook, its cover cracked with age, and laid it on the table. “I will answer that question, but first I need you to understand something about me. I was a tool-and-die maker for fifty-one years. I measured things for a living. And a man who measures things for fifty-one years does not like to guess.”

He opened the notebook. Tessa leaned forward.

The pages were covered in tiny, upright handwriting, neat as engraving. Dates, amounts, descriptions, in columns ruled with a straightedge. She saw April 3. Cash, $400, from bureau drawer. Missing. Then April 19. Silver service, six pieces, from dining room hutch. Missing. Then May 2. Margaret’s pearls. Missing.

The list went on for nine pages.

“Eight months ago,” said Eli, “my nephew Dale came to live with me.”

Tessa’s breath caught.

“He is my late brother Tom’s son. Forty-six years old. He told me he had lost his job and his apartment, and that he needed a place to stay for a month or two. I am a lonely man, Miss Ruiz. My wife died two years ago this December. The house is very quiet.” His voice remained level, but his thumb moved gently over the edge of the page. “I said yes. I was glad of the company.”

“And things started going missing,” Marcus said softly.

“First small things. Cash from a drawer. A watch. I told myself I had misplaced them. I’m eighty-four, I thought. Perhaps I am slipping.” A wintry smile touched his lips. “But a man who has measured to the thousandth of an inch for half a century does not misplace silver service for six.”

“Why didn’t you go to the police?” Tessa asked, before she could stop herself.

Eli turned his gray eyes on her, and they were infinitely tired.

“Because he is Tom’s boy,” he said. “And because, when my brother was dying, I promised him I would look after Dale. I broke that promise once, years ago, when I lost my temper and threw the boy out of my house. I have never forgiven myself for it. I swore I would not do it again.” He drew a breath. “But a promise to a dead man does not require a living man to be robbed.”

The room had fallen perfectly silent.

“So I made a plan,” said Eli. “A foolish one, perhaps. Three weeks ago I told Dale that I wished to buy a tractor from a neighbor, and that I would pay in cash. Thirty-eight thousand dollars. I mentioned it casually, over dinner, and then I watched his face.” He closed the notebook. “I watched it for a long time. I have rarely seen a man try so hard to look uninterested.”

“He insisted on coming with you today,” said Marcus.

“He insisted on driving me. He insisted on helping. He has been solicitous for three weeks.” Eli’s mouth twisted. “I think he intended to take the cash from me the moment we reached the car. Perhaps worse. I have not yet decided how much worse.”

Tessa felt a cold ripple pass down her spine.

“So you came here,” she said slowly, “to see whether the bank would let you walk out with it.”

“I came to see whether anyone would stop me,” said Eli. “I have been to three banks in the last month, you understand. At two of them, I asked a teller for a very large sum of money, and I was handed an envelope and wished a nice day.” He shrugged. “I am old. I look harmless. Nobody questions an old man in a cardigan.”

“Which bank was the third?” Marcus asked.

“This one.” Eli’s eyes returned to Tessa, and for the second time that morning, the ghost of a smile lifted his mouth. “I had decided that this would be my last attempt. If no one stopped me here, I intended to go home, change my will, and leave the farm to a stranger.”