“He’s stubborn,” she admitted.

“But he isn’t running a secret operation.

Mostly he fixes bikes and tries to keep people from falling through gaps in the system.”

“Why under a condemned bridge?” I asked.

“The city storage arrangement ended when the old warehouse sold.

He didn’t want to abandon the donated bikes.

I told him we could find another space if he gave us time.”

The boys had seen Walter as a man with a mission rather than as an adult in trouble.