Steve Pohlonski

Steve Pohlonski is the investigator pursuing the identity of Brett Bohlinger’s biological father. The book gives little direct access to him: readers know him through the search he conducts and the reports he gives to Brett and Brad Midar. Those reports make his role consequential precisely because the investigation does not produce a quick answer. Its failed leads test Brett’s patience, while the careful record of his work eventually helps her recognize that his failure is not a lack of effort.

Role in the Search

The search begins with a set of six possible men. Pohlonski contacts each one, including a man he considers a possible match because he was in Chicago during the summer of 1978. That candidate, however, did not know Elizabeth Bohlinger. He had been a graduate student at DePaul, had never heard of Justine’s, and had no musical ability—details that conflict with the clues Brett associates with her father. Pohlonski’s inquiry therefore narrows the possibilities without identifying the man she hopes to find.

His work extends beyond calling potential candidates. He tries to trace the former owners of Justine’s, but both are dead. He also looks for tax records that might connect Johnny Manns to paid work, without finding any. The absence of those records offers a possible explanation for why the search is difficult, but does not establish where Johnny went or what became of him. Pohlonski follows another lead through the property owner of the place on Bosworth Avenue, where Johnny may once have lived. The owner is now in a nursing home in Naperville and has no recollection of Johnny or Brett’s parents; there is no old lease to resolve the question.

A Dead End, and the Evidence of Effort

When Brad tells Brett that Pohlonski has reached a dead end, she responds with anger and doubts his competence. Her frustration is bound up with the personal stakes of the search: she believes Johnny is still somewhere in the world and resents the lack of information left to her by her mother. Brad does not simply ask her to take his assessment on faith. He gives her Pohlonski’s spreadsheet, which records searches under the variations Jon, John, Jonathan, Jonothon, and Johnny Manns. Some names are circled, others crossed out, and notes in the margins record dates and times of calls.

The document changes the meaning of the setback for Brett. It shows a sustained process of checking names and following contacts, not an investigator abandoning the task without trying. Brett recognizes from the marked-up records that Pohlonski has been making a serious effort. She tells Brad to ask him to continue. Her shift does not mean the investigation has succeeded; it means she can distinguish the disappointing result from the work that produced it. For Pohlonski, the spreadsheet is the clearest evidence of character the narrative provides: his diligence appears not through a scene in which he describes himself, but through the accumulated traces of what he has done.

A New Lead

The search becomes active again when Brett reconnects with Carrie Newsome. Carrie’s parents lived on Bosworth Avenue and knew Johnny Manns, a connection Brett had not known about before their renewed contact. Brett tells Brad what she has learned and describes Carrie as a gift in many ways. Brad immediately treats the information as a major break and says he will leave Pohlonski a message as soon as they end their call.

Pohlonski’s next steps remain uncertain. Brad cautions Brett that even with this new information, finding Johnny could take months and would not happen overnight. The warning preserves the distinction between a useful lead and a solved case: the connection to Bosworth supplies a route for renewed inquiry, not confirmation of Johnny’s whereabouts. Pohlonski’s investigation thus moves from a documented impasse toward a possibility, without the narrative claiming that the lead has already yielded an answer.

Narrative Significance

Pohlonski is a supporting character defined chiefly by a task conducted offstage. The reader encounters his work through other people’s accounts, especially Brad’s explanations and the spreadsheet Brett examines. That limited presentation makes the written record unusually important: names, strikeouts, circles, and call notes give material form to labor that would otherwise be invisible. They also temper Brett’s suspicion without erasing her disappointment.

The search reflects the limits imposed by incomplete records and fading memory. Potential witnesses are unavailable or unable to remember; the former owners of Justine’s have died, and the former property owner cannot recall Johnny. Pohlonski can pursue the surviving clues, but the evidence does not guarantee discovery. His significance lies in maintaining that search across setbacks and in becoming the recipient of a new lead generated through Brett’s renewed friendship with Carrie. At the point described, he has not found Brett’s father; he has helped carry the investigation from possibility, through a discouraging dead end, toward another attempt.