A Time for Action

Whit compares Leonard’s original fax with the copy Around the World Missions later sent to him. The mission’s fax number replaced the number on the copy, hiding the source of the original message. That source is not in Africa at all - it belongs to a business in nearby Connellsville. Although the fax is more than a year old, Eugene is thrilled by the possibility that his father has been close to Odyssey.

Eugene calls the number and reaches Pete’s Gas and Chow. He and Whit travel there to question a teenage employee named PJ, who remembers the unusual request because a homeless man had asked to fax a message overseas. The man was a heavyset, middle-aged traveler with black dreadlocks named Joel, not the slender, brown-haired Leonard. PJ adds that Joel said he was sending the fax for someone else.

Whit knows that a shelter called Solid Ground is only a few blocks away. Its director, Don Winters, recognizes Joel’s description and says the quiet man has stayed there off and on for more than a year. Joel is currently using one of the shelter’s bunks. Eugene and Whit find him, but the moment Whit mentions Leonard Meltsner, Joel bolts out the door.

They chase him for half a mile but lose him near a cemetery. While catching their breath, Whit notices a Meltsner headstone beneath an oak tree. Eugene recognizes the grave of his grandfather Hiram, but newer markers stand nearby for his mother, Thelma; an unknown Everett Meltsner; and Eugene himself. According to Eugene’s stone, he died at age seven on the date printed on Michael Mushnick’s train ticket.

Eugene pieces together a possible explanation. His father must believe that Michael took Eugene on the trip and that both died in the crash. That would explain why Leonard has never contacted a son he thinks has been dead for twenty years. The false grave makes finding Joel - and through him, Leonard - more important than ever.

Back at Solid Ground, Joel has left almost no possessions or identifying information. Whit notices the name Grady stitched into the corner of a blanket on Joel’s bunk. The clue leads them to the McKay home, where Grady explains that he was angry and embarrassed when his own family received an Adopt-A-Family box. Kristi allowed him to select five items for the homeless man at the park, and the blanket was one of them.

Grady cannot tell them where Joel has gone, but he can tell them where the man may be that evening. When Grady gave him the supplies, he invited him to the benefit dinner at Whit’s End. Eugene now sees that Grady’s simple act of generosity may accomplish what all his urgent detective work could not.

As the dinner begins, Eugene worries that chasing Joel has frightened him away and that his decision to act has destroyed his only chance. Whit reminds him that people sometimes disobey, misunderstand, or simply fail while trying their best, but none of those mistakes can ruin God’s purposes. Eugene cannot control the outcome by worrying or searching the room again and again.

Joel finally appears in a quiet corner. Afraid that another direct approach will make him run, Eugene imagines using a disguise, but Grady simply walks over and introduces the two men. Joel stares at Eugene and says he resembles someone from long ago. Eugene identifies himself and explains that he has been searching for Leonard, who may believe his son died in the train crash.

Eugene asks whether Joel knows his father and where he can be found. Joel tells him that the search is over. Then he reveals the truth: “I’m your father. I’m Leonard Meltsner.” Eugene has finally found the man he has pursued for so long, but every question about Leonard’s past and hidden identity remains unanswered.