He knew it sounded lame. He wasn’t in charge of taking care of the kids – that was Frannie’s job – so he wasn’t certain what time school got out. Somewhere in the back of his mind he recalled that they had one early dismissal day every week. It must be Thursday.

‘About an hour.’

An hour without even a call? Frannie liked to say that if a punctual person was a lonely one, then she was one of the loneliest people on earth. ‘Have you heard from Erin? I mean Mrs Cochran? She’s on the call list.’ This was Rebecca’s grandmother, who often picked up the kids at school when Frannie had other errands.

‘That was my first call, Mr Hardy, to Erin. But I just got an answering machine. I thought I’d wait a few more minutes before calling you at work – maybe somebody got caught in traffic.’ She hesitated. ‘Your son’s pretty upset. He wants to talk to you.’

Hardy heard his third grader, Vincent, trying to be brave, but his voice was cracking, frayed. He responded with a hearty confidence. ‘It’s OK, bud, I’ll be down to pick you up in no time. Tell Rebecca it’s all right, too. Everything’s fine.’

‘But where’s Mom?’

‘I don’t know, Vin, but don’t worry. I’m sure it’s just a communication mix-up. That or she’s running late from something.’ He was selling himself as well as his son. Maybe Frannie had arranged for another parent to pick up the kids and that person had forgotten. ‘She’ll probably show up before I get there.’

Although he didn’t really believe that. Frannie would have told the children if someone else other than Erin were going to pick them up. They had strict rules about not going home with anybody other than Mom, Dad or Grandma unless the arrangements had been approved in advance. ‘You be a big guy,’ he said. ‘Everything’s OK, I promise.’

Hardy made a quick call back to his reception desk and questioned Phyllis – was she sure Frannie hadn’t left a message earlier? But Phyllis was an efficiency machine. If his wife had called, she told him icily, she would have told Hardy. As she always did.

He checked his watch again. It had been less than five minutes since he’d talked to Mrs Wilson.

Undoubtedly there was a simple explanation. Even in this day of ubiquitous communication, there were places that didn’t have phones, or access to them. Frannie might be at one of them, stuck, trying to reach him.

He got the answering machine when he tried at his home. Where could she be? If she were not picking up the children, something was wrong.

Perhaps she’d been in an accident? Hardy’s fertile brain played with the possibilities of what might have happened, might be happening, to his wife. He didn’t like any of them.

A few minutes later he was in his car, negotiating the downtown traffic. He tried to remember something about Frannie’s day, her plans. For the life of him, he couldn’t retrieve anything, if in fact she’d told him.

Truth was, lately she probably wouldn’t have mentioned anything about her daily schedule and even if she had, it might not have registered with him. More and more, the two of them were leading separate lives. Both of them knew it and admitted that it was a problem, but it was the toll of day-to-dayness, and neither of them seemed able to break the cycle. Hardy knew about as much of his wife’s routines as he did of his children’s school day, which was precious little.

Though it was cold comfort, he told himself that it was just the way things had evolved. The family dynamic had changed, gotten more traditional. He was overwhelmed with the simple mechanics of making a living. Frannie volunteered for everything, never said no, and was always there to support the other moms, her circle of friends. All of it – Frannie’s very existence, it seemed – revolved around their children. As he supposed it should – that was the job she’d wanted. He made the money and helped with discipline. That was the deal.

Finally, beyond Van Ness the traffic started to move along out toward the Avenues. With luck now he’d be to Merryvale in ten minutes.

By the time he got home with the children and searched the house for some kind of a note, he was really worried. His wife didn’t simply disappear with no explanation.

He sent the kids to the backyard and got on the phone. His first call was to Erin Cochran but he got another answering machine. Next – a flash of insight – he called Moses McGuire, Frannie’s brother, bartending at the Little Shamrock.

‘She probably left you. I would have long ago.’

‘She wouldn’t have left the kids, Mose.’

‘Well, that’s probably true, you’re right.’

‘I don’t know where she is.’

Moses took a minute. ‘I wouldn’t worry about it, Diz. She’ll turn up.’

‘Well, that’s heartening. Thanks for the input.’ He hung up. Big help from the brother front. While he sat at the kitchen table contemplating his next call, the phone rang and he snatched at it.

‘Are you really worried?’

‘Some.’

‘You really don’t know where she is?’

‘No. I’m kidding you. Actually, she’s right here next to me. We just thought it would be fun to call you and say she was gone – see how you react.’

Moses got serious. ‘When did you last talk to her?’

‘This morning.’

‘You guys fight or anything?’

‘No.’

The line hummed with silence. Then, ‘I’d try Erin.’

‘I already did. She isn’t home.’

‘Maybe they went somewhere together and got hung up.’

‘Maybe,’ Hardy agreed. He didn’t want to alarm her brother any more than he already had. Moses had raised Frannie. He often said that of the ten things he cared most about, Frannie was the first eight. ‘Either Erin or one of her other friends.’

‘But she didn’t call you?’

This, of course, was the nub of it, but Hardy played it down. ‘Phyllis might have lost the message. Happens all the time,’ he lied.

‘I’ll call Susan,’ Moses said, referring to his wife. ‘Maybe she’s heard something.’

‘OK.’ Hardy looked at his watch. Two fifty. ‘I’m sure she’ll be home anytime. I’ll call.’

Forty-five minutes later, the phone had rung twice more, but neither one was Frannie.

First had been Susan, checking to make sure that Moses had not misinterpreted what Hardy was saying. Was Frannie really missing? Hardy didn’t want to say that, not yet. She just wasn’t home yet. He’d call Susan back when he heard from her.

The second call was Erin Cochran, home from a long weekend that she and her husband Ed had spent in the Napa vineyards. No, she hadn’t talked to Frannie in a week. Mrs Wilson’s call on her machine had told her that Frannie hadn’t gone to pick up the children, then she’d gotten Hardy’s message. What was going on? Was Frannie back yet?

She tried to hide it, but the worry in her voice was unmistakable. It was now nearly three hours since Frannie should have picked the kids up at school and Hardy still hadn’t even heard from her? Did he need help at home? Erin could be right over.

Hardy admitted that maybe that wouldn’t be a bad idea.

He’d put off making the next call for as long as he could, but now – nearly four thirty, with two red-eyed children at the table listlessly pushing around some Graham crackers and milk – he punched in a number he knew by heart.

‘Glitsky. Homicide.’

Lieutenant Abe Glitsky, the chief of San Francisco’s homicide department, was his best friend. Being in the criminal justice system, Glitsky could circumvent a lot of bureaucracy.

‘Abe, it’s Diz.’

This was so different from their usual obscene or ironic greeting that it raised Glitsky’s red flag. ‘What the matter?’

Hardy told Abe to hold a minute, then stood up with the portable phone, and told Rebecca and Vincent he was talking to Uncle Abe – adult stuff – he was just going into the living room for a little privacy. He’d be right back. They should keep eating their snacks.