Steve’s thick brows disappeared under his hair. “That was a superhurry. She only came in on Monday night, right? Seems almost indecent. She leaving him something in her will?”

“Rabies, if she thought about it. The boy got the county to kill her dogs. Her life pretty much revolved around them; I don’t know how she’s going to react if she learns they’re dead.”

Steve looked at his watch. “Elaine is giving the kids breakfast and making sure they’re dressed. Let me just give her a call to let her know I’m running late—I want to see Mrs. Frizell myself. We can decide then the best way to tell her about the dogs.”

We went back up the hall. Steve tops my five-eight by five or six inches. He tried to shorten his stride, but I still had to jog to keep up. He ducked abruptly into a doorway and started up some stairs.

“Elevators,” he said briefly. “Only one is working today on this side of the building. I’m afraid we’re up five stories, but it’s really faster, believe me.”

I was panting slightly when we got to his office, but he didn’t seem at all winded. He phoned his wife, picked up a clipboard, and relocked the door all in one movement.

“Elaine sends her love. We go back down two flights and over to the orthopedic corridor. I called Nelle McDowell—she’s the charge nurse over there. She’s cool, she’ll let us talk to Mrs. Frizell.”

We met Nelle McDowell at the nurses’ station, a cubbyhole near the end of the corridor. A tall, squarely built black woman, she acknowledged Steve and me with a nod, but kept up a conversation with two nurses and an orderly. They were reviewing the previous night’s newcomers and trying to juggle the workload. We waited in the hall outside until they’d finished—the tiny room barely held the four people already in it.

When the meeting broke up, McDowell beckoned us in. Steve introduced me. “Vic wants to talk to Harriet Frizell. Is she in shape to see anyone?”

McDowell made a face. “She’s not the most coherent person on the ward right now. What do you want to see her about?”

I told my tale once again, about finding Mrs. Frizell Monday night, and then about Todd Pichea, the dogs, and why I cared.

McDowell looked me over like a captain eyeing a dubious new subaltern. “You know who Bruce is, Vic?”

“Bruce is—was—Mrs. Frizell’s number-one dog, a big black Lab.”