As I started back up Route 41, I wondered if Marcena had left her pen at Morrell’s. Carnifice, or whoever it was, had searched his place, but maybe they didn’t know what device they were looking for. I called Morrell.

“Hippolyte! How’s Your Majesty tonight?”

“Not very majestic, I’m afraid—I couldn’t even slay an ordinary street punk, so I don’t think I’m ready to take on a real warrior.”

I told him about my encounters with Freddy. “He’s looking for Marcena’s recorder, and I think that’s what they were hunting for up at your place, if that’s any consolation. I know I’m too late for dinner, but I might still come back up tonight if you’re going to be up for a while.”

“I should drive down to South Chicago and carry you home on your shield after all you’ve been through. Since I can’t, I think you should go to your own place—it’s a shorter drive, and I don’t like you on the roads when you’re this beat. Don and I will have a look around—I’ll call you if I find anything. And you call me when you get home.” When I didn’t answer, he said sharply, “Okay, Warshawski?”

My own untidy home with my dogs—I realized uneasily they sounded more comforting than Morrell’s scrupulously clean condo. Maybe that was just because Don was visiting—I’d be filled with longing for Morrell as soon as I could see him alone.

It was only when I’d hung up that I remembered Carnifice or someone might be monitoring my phone, or Morrell’s. I tried to remember the whole conversation. Not that I wanted strangers to hear my insecurities, but what I shouldn’t have been talking about was the recorder. I called Morrell back, just to warn him. He was predictably annoyed at the idea that someone was listening in on his phone, but he agreed not to open the door without triple-checking a visitor’s credentials.

“Anyway, Don is still smoking like a fiend. Anyone comes in, he can give them lung cancer while we wait for you and your gun.”

I laughed more naturally. I’d been doing the irresponsible thing of talking while driving; I was at Mary Ann’s now, so I told him I’d call him from home and hung up again.