Mrs. Frizell’s private papers had been safe at the bottom of the lacquered box for some weeks, but I hesitated to leave them there. Since Mrs. Hellstrom thought Todd and Chrissie were sweet, helpful neighbors, she would surely show them the cache, too, if it dawned on them to ask her. I tucked the title and the bonds into my bag, arranged all the canine glory in its proper order, and carefully fit the lid back into its grooves. Just to add to my own reputation for sweet helpfulness, I rinsed the iced tea glasses and left them on the drainboard.

Mrs. Hellstrom was weeding on her hands and knees when I came back out of the kitchen. “You go through all that stuff, hon?”

“Yeah. No wonder her son feels so bitter: all her mementos are about her dogs. She didn’t even keep his kindergarten picture. I didn’t know she used to train dogs for show, though.”

“Oh my, yes.” She sat back on her heels and wiped the sweat from her forehead. “I guess that’s why they didn’t bother me as much as some of the other folks around here. I can remember when that yard was spick-and-span and she had seven or eight Labs out there, all perfectly behaved. It’s only been the last few years that she stopped being able to manage them like she used to. Maia Tertz could tell you about it. She used to buy dogs from Hattie, for her family. All her kids have Labs, descended from some of Hattie’s old Labs, my goodness, yes, and I suppose her grandchildren too. I don’t expect young folks like Chrissie to appreciate that.”

“Chrissie seems to like to help people in other ways,” I ventured. “I hear she has quite a lot of financial expertise.”

“Maybe, honey, maybe, but Mr. Hellstrom and I, we prefer to make our own investment decisions. We don’t have that much to lose, so we can’t afford to listen to sales pitches.”

“I took one of the pictures of her dogs. I thought maybe it would perk her up to have it next to her bed.”

“Now, why didn’t I think of that? That’s a wonderful idea. Just wonderful. And I always figured you for such a snob—sorry, honey, that just slipped out.” She smiled in embarrassment and got back on her hands and knees to continue plucking invisible weeds from around her rosebushes.

As I walked up Racine to Belmont I felt as though I had a big red X on my bag indicating the location of the bonds. I kept a nervous lookout for anyone who seemed to be dogging me too close. A bus was arriving just as I got to the corner. I climbed on to ride the half mile to the Bank of Lake View, just to be on the safe side.