The bright blue door, the same color as the morning glories climbing over the door frame, opened suddenly—so suddenly that Jack had to take a step back and almost knocked Dennis down the stairs.

“That’s not what I’m saying at all, Mr. Emery,” said a tiny lady in a flowered dress that clashed with all the flowers on the porch, as she motioned for Dennis and Jack to enter the room. Cyrus barked to show he was part of the party. “All right, you can come in too, but do not pee on the carpet.” Cyrus barked twice to show he was offended at the remark.

It was a real office, but it didn’t look as if it got much use. Everything looked new and fresh, and even smelled as if it had just been painted. There were three desks with three bright red, futuristic-looking plastic chairs. A long table held three computers, an all-in-one printer, and a console telephone. Two bright red file cabinets stood next to the long metal table. Obviously, whoever sat at the desks had to slide a chair over to the table if they wanted to use the computers.

Completing the decor was a large, lush, and healthy-looking ficus tree that took up one entire corner of the office. Black-and-white prints of Las Vegas from the early days up to the present adorned the walls. A small television sat on the corner of what Jack assumed was Mrs. Love’s desk and was tuned to a morning game show. Three old-fashioned ledgers were spread open on the long table, with a box of colored pencils next to them. Different-colored pencils were nestled in the open spine of each ledger. Probably some kind of code for the workings of the complex, Jack decided.

“What is it you want, Mr. Emery? Whatever it is, I’m sure I won’t be able to help you. I just fill in here a few hours each day or when Gentry has other things to do. I do it for a reduction in my rent. Gentry is in charge, and I certainly do not want to step out of line.”

“When will Mr. Lomax be back?” Dennis asked, speaking for the first time. He offered up his famous boyish smile, hoping she would respond to him the way that other elderly people did. She did.

“I’m not sure, honey. He just said he had something he had to do and I would see him when I saw him. He told me what he wanted me to do, and that’s what I’ve been doing since I arrived at eight-thirty this morning. I can make an appointment for you for tomorrow if you like.”

Jack took over. “As I’m sure you know, Mr. Cricket is seriously ill. What you may not know is that he had to be taken back into surgery yesterday. He is still in critical condition. Understandably, Mrs. Cricket is at his side and won’t leave, of course. She was told virtually nothing about what happened on that tragic day. She wants to know what happened. That’s why we’re here, Mrs. Love. You live here, so you were here when the shooting happened. You must know something.”