“Are you going to try to find out more about him?” Andrea asked Mike.

“I was going to drive down there tomorrow to see if any of the girls on Munsington Street knew him.”

“You were going to?” Hannah noticed the qualifier in Mike’s statement. He hadn’t said, I’m going to drive down. He’d said, I was going to drive down, which meant he no longer planned to go. “Why aren’t you going?” she asked him.

“Stella advised me not to try it. She said too many people on the street remembered me from when I worked Vice. And then she made a suggestion that I immediately rejected.”

“What was it?” Delores asked him.

“Stella wants Hannah to go down to talk to one of Keith’s girls. None of them have ever seen her and Hannah wouldn’t pose a threat, especially if she tells them she’s visiting from Wisconsin or something like that. Stella thought Hannah would get a lot more information than I could.”

“Stella’s probably right,” Delores said, “but I can get even more information than either one of you.”

Hannah just stared at her mother. “You want to go with me?”

“Yes. I’m very good at talking to people.”

“Mother!” Andrea looked properly shocked. “You want to go along to talk to a bunch of prostitutes?”

“Not a bunch, dear. Just one. It would be interesting.”

Andrea still looked astounded. “But, Mother! What about Doc?”

“Oh, Doc can’t go, dear. He’s far too busy at the hospital. And even if he wasn’t busy and could go, the girl might think he was a . . . a customer, and I wouldn’t like that at all!”

Andrea gave an exasperated sigh. “That’s not what I meant and you know it! If you’re going along with Hannah, I can’t stop you, but I’m going along, too. Someone has to keep you two from getting into trouble.”

“The child becomes the mother,” Hannah quipped, winking at Delores. “How about you, Michelle? Do you want to join the family party?”

“No, thanks. I’ve driven past that area and it’s not exactly a scenic delight. I’d much rather stay here and help Lisa in the coffee shop.”

“That’s fine, dear,” Delores said, smiling at Michelle.

Michelle looked as if she were uncertain about saying something because she took a deep breath before she said, “Just for your information, when you drive through that area you’d better keep the windows rolled up and the doors locked.”

“It’s that bad?” Delores asked her.

“Not during the daytime. Then it’s just this rundown, dilapidated, and filthy area with graffiti sprayed on every building left standing. But I wouldn’t want to walk there alone at night. The creatures of the night come out when it gets dark, and I’m not talking about werewolves and vampires.”