The house seemed abnormally quiet. Riadh finished the task of sorting through the lower cabinets in the kitchen. Thirty years’ worth of bank statements for an account that seemed to be now closed, had been mixed with about a hundred recipes clipped from magazines and newspapers. He stacked the boxes and bags of paper and walked upstairs. Peeking in the bedrooms and the bathroom, he was mystified. Dale was nowhere in sight. Maybe the man had walked down the stairs when Riadh had been in the kitchen. Riadh went back down stairs and looked around, checking the basement, too. Nothing.
The backyard was empty except for a bird fluttering in the bird bath. Dale’s car was still in the driveway. Maybe Dale had gone for a walk? It wasn’t Riadh’s responsibility to keep track of his master, but he ad
