Kiel clenched and unclenched his right fist. “Sonia’s forty-seven, but her head is stuck at age fourteen. I need to see her. And Dr. Chesnitz will have to check on her.”

“I’ll discuss it with her medical team,” Heinz said. “Right now the priority is building up her physical strength. We will need Ms. Kiel’s consent for her to see Dr. Chesnitz. Unless, as Ms. Warshawski said, you or he is her legal guardian.”

One of Heinz’s nurses came to whisper something to her. Heinz nodded. “I have to leave to take care of another patient, but no one can talk to Ms. Kiel at the moment: Dr. Cordley gave her an injection of propofol a few minutes ago, and she’ll be sleeping through most of the rest of the day.”

Dr. Chesnitz sputtered that propofol on top of Depakote constituted dangerous misjudgment.

“Dr. Kiel, if you’ve changed your mind about involving yourself in your daughter’s care, can you discuss it with Dr. Cordley? And of course if you wish to sit with your daughter and talk to her, it might be beneficial to her. People understand what’s said to them under sedation. But you, Mr. . . . uh . . .”

“He says his name is Pinsen,” I supplied helpfully.

“Because it is Pinsen,” he said.

“Mr. Pinsen,” Heinz said. “She can’t have any people with her right now who are strangers to her.”

“This detective—” Pinsen began, in chorus with Chesnitz.

“This detective has visited Sonia almost every day while she’s been unconscious. She also saved Sonia’s life.”

The head nurse swept away, back behind the soundproofed doors into the unit. Both she and the rest of her team were wearing comfortable street clothes, but you could almost hear the snap that a heavily starched uniform would have made.

I left, but the men remained near the nursing information counter. When my elevator arrived, I could see that Pinsen was talking urgently to Kiel, who continued to clench and unclench his hands. At least if he had a stroke here, he’d get instant help.

Despite my bravado with Pinsen and Chesnitz, I was feeling dizzy from the Kiel family’s gyrations. There were a few cabs outside the hospital’s main entrance; I got one to take me to the Hippo.

Simone was behind the bar again this morning. “Where’s your emotional support?” she asked, starting to grind beans for me.

“She’s receiving, not giving, this morning, alas!”

I glanced through the Douglas County Herald while I waited for my drink. The men’s basketball team dominated the front page. Women’s basketball got a couple of lines inside. The editorial page brayed happily about the recent election results but also issued a warning to the Lawrence Public Library.