He‘s still not talking?

No.

Some of Kate‘s best perps had been cycled through the Alaska Psychiatric Institute. I could have sworn I saw something when I mentioned his girlfriend. Could you get her to come in and talk to him? He might respond to her. Kate took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I‘m afraid that‘s impossible. Lyda Blue is dead.

I . . . see. A brief pause, and when he spoke again his voice was cooler. Ms. Shugak, I am aware of your propensity for getting information by any means. Some people find that admirable. I find it reprehensible. Don‘t ever lie to a patient of mine again, even if that lie is only one of omission.

He couldn‘t even hear me, she said.

And if he could? And if he remembers you asking about her? And if he comes out of this and asks for her? And I have to tell him she‘s dead? It could throw him right back where he was before. I will see to it that you are stricken from his guest list. She was ashamed of herself, she had been when she‘d asked Gammons about Lyda. Doc, she said, Lyda Blue was murdered yesterday. She was momentarily surprised to hear how certain she was. I‘m sorry for Dewayne Gammons‘s condition, and I‘m sorry as hell if I‘ve exacerbated it, but he may be in possession of knowledge that will allow me to find out who did it, and why. If he regains consciousness or wakes up or even gets up to pee on his own, you will call me immediately, do you understand?

A brief and frigid silence. Is that all?

It is, she said. And added, trying to keep the lines of communication open, Thanks, doc. I owe you one.

She was speaking into a dead phone. How to win friends and influence people. She looked at the time. Six o‘clock. It took her five minutes but she finally figured out how to check her voice mail. Nothing. She thought about calling Kurt but she knew if he‘d had anything to report he would have called her.

Wait a minute, who was that guy Truax had thrown off the mine yesterday? She still had his card in the back pocket of her jeans. Kostas McKenzie. Well, there was a suspicious name right there, Greek and Irish, or maybe the McKenzie was Scots, even worse, absolutely have to check that out.

Besides, she thought more soberly, if the Park was going to be the scene of future environmental protests, best to know as much as possible about it in advance. She dialed the number on the card. It was picked up on the first ring, a breathless young voice very impressed with the urgent importance of the job her organization was doing. Would Kate like to donate to the cause? Well then, would she like to volunteer? Mother Earth was at grave risk from wholesale, environmentally unsafe resource extraction by conscienceless corporate giants interested only in gross profit and executive bonuses. Kate could answer phones, stuff envelopes, knock on doors, conduct surveys, write letters to her legislators and to her congressmen. There was so much to do if the planet was to be saved. The time to act was now. If you weren‘t a part of the solution, you were part of the problem.