Myron started to cross the room with his hand extended, but Susan Lex held up her palm in a stop gesture. Granite Man sat forward, nearly leaning into Myron's path. He gave Myron a small shake of the head, which was no easy task when you have no neck. Myron stayed where he was.

"I don't like being threatened," Susan Lex called from across the room.

"I apologize for that. But I had to see you."

"And that makes it right to threaten and blackmail me?"

Myron had no quick answer to that. "I need to talk to you about your brother Dennis."

"So you said on the phone."

"Where is he?"

Susan Lex looked at Granite Man. Granite Man frowned and cracked his knuckles again. "Just like that, Mr. Bolitar?" Susan Lex said. "You call my office. You threaten me. You insist I alter my schedule to accommodate you. And then you come in here and make demands?"

"I don't mean to be abrupt," Myron said. "But this is a matter of life and death."

Whenever he said "a matter of life and death," he expected to hear that melodramatic dum-dum-duuuummm music.

"That's hardly an explanation," Susan Lex said.

"Your brother registered with the national bone marrow center," Myron said. "His marrow matched a sick child's." After the creepy say-good-bye-to-the-boy conversation last night, Myron had decided to stop being gender specific. "Without that transplant, the child will die."

Susan Lex arched an eyebrow. The rich are really good at that, at arching eyebrows without altering anything else on their face. Myron wondered if they learned it at rich-people summer camp. Susan Lex looked at Granite Man again. Granite Man was trying to smile now. "You're mistaken, Mr. Bolitar," she said.

Myron waited for her to say more. When she didn't, he said, "Mistaken how?"

"If you're telling the truth, you've made a mistake. I will say no more."

"With all due deference," Myron said, "that's not good enough."

"It will have to be."

"Where is your brother, Ms. Lex?"

"Please leave, Mr. Bolitar."

"I can still go to the press."

Granite Man crossed his legs and started cracking his knuckles again.

Myron turned to him. "Yes, but can you do this?" Myron patted his head with one hand and rubbed his belly with the other.

Granite Man didn't like that one.

"Look," Myron said, "I don't want to cause any trouble here. You're private people. I understand that. But I need to find this donor."

"It's not my brother," Susan Lex said.

"Then where is he?"

"He's not your donor. More than that is none of your concern."

"Does the name Davis Taylor mean anything to you?"

Susan Lex repursed the lips as though a fresh beetle had sneaked through. She turned and walked out. Her daughter did likewise. Again on cue, the door behind Myron opened and the two blue-blazers filled it. More glares. They stepped fully into the room. Granite Man finally stood, which took some time. He was indeed big. Very big.