What Happened In Paradise?

Home: I Have A Few Questions

Maxwell runs across the hall, sprints down the steps and out of the apartment building. The sun isn’t just bright. It’s sweltering. Suddenly, he can’t breathe. The coat wraps him with a warmth that feels constricting. He sheds the coat, reminding himself to breathe in through his nose and out through his mouth. It's June! Maxwell's car is on the corner. Right where he left it.

Traffic is tight heading into the city. Luckily, Maxwell is headed in the other direction. The bumper-to-bumper traffic makes him wonder, for the first time, about his job. Does he still have one? Perhaps he should ask the detective. Detective Persad seems to know more about Maxwell’s current life than Maxwell does, though he too seems to only know a little.

He knows the house is empty before he climbs the steps to the front door, still, he calls out.

“Stephanie!”

Brian has probably already left for work, but Stephanie should be home. Maxwell walks the length of the porch, trying to peer through a window. The house is clean. Maxwell turns to examine the yard. Mowed grass, trimmed hedges, Stephanie and Brian must not have joined him on the hiatus he can’t remember. The faux rock where Brian and Stephanie hide their spare keys is missing, so Maxwell goes to the backyard. He calls out again.

“Stephanie!” She’s not by the pool. Maxwell searches for another spare key, finds none. He tries the door. Maybe, by some chance, the house is open. What does he hope to learn from the empty house?

The door is locked; Maxwell goes back to the front.

“Max,” Detective Guber says. “I think we need to talk.”