I held him more tightly, but couldn’t say anything else. Maybe he was right though. Maybe that’s why I reacted so roughly every time Mr. Contreras, or Lotty, or anyone else worried about my safety. It could even be why I pushed myself to the brink time and again. When my muscles slowed down, would I find other strengths to get me across those chasms? I shivered in the summer air.

Dedication

For Matt and Eve
(Eva Maria, that is, the once and future princess)

Thanks

Dan Paretsky, World’s Greatest Vet, provided valuable information on Peppy’s condition. Norma Singer and Loretta Lim, both registered nurses at Cook County Hospital, used one of their rare days off to give me a tour of the hospital. They explained its intricate workings in detail and showed me the pride they have in their own very difficult jobs. Norma Singer helped solve the problems that beset Mrs. Frizell in this novel.

Madelyn Iris, from Northwestern University’s Center on Aging, was most helpful on questions of guardianship, city and county emergency services, and the procedure used to appoint someone as an elderly person’s guardian. This book accelerates the timetable for that procedure, but the process described here is depressingly close to reality.

Rob Flater showed me where to start research so I could grapple with the skullduggery this novel discusses. Jay Topkis killed an impertinent dragon that was trying to spray fire in my direction.

An expert on mechanics—both quantum and otherwise—worked out the technical problems in Chapter Fifty.

This novel is a work of fiction. As is always the case, none of the people or events detailed here is based on anything except the distortions of reality caused by an overheated, morbid imagination. And as is also always true, any mistakes in the text are due to my ignorance, sloth, or stupidity, not to the advice of the experts I consulted.

Bonnie Alexander and Mary Ellen Modica made it possible for me to return to work. Without their help I might never have been able to do so again. Diann Smith made the connections for me, as she has done for Chicago women for thirty years. Professor Wright and Dr. Cardhu supported my spirits through long months of pain.

Chicago
May 1991

Also by Sara Paretsky

WINDY CITY BLUES
TUNNEL VISION
BURN MARKS
BLOOD SHOT
BITTER MEDICINE
KILLING ORDERS
DEADLOCK
INDEMNITY ONLY

Edited by Sara Paretsky

WOMEN ON THE CASE
A WOMAN’S EYE