‘Yeah,’ Cee Cee said from the depths of the back seat, ‘until you refuse to sleep with him. Then he’ll relegate you to the back seat, too.’

Adam said, in a Wizard of Oz voice, ‘Ignore that man behind the curtain.’

I slid into the front seat, and Adam politely closed the door for me.

‘Are you serious?’ I turned around to ask Cee Cee as Adam made his way round the car to the driver’s seat.

Cee Cee blinked at me from behind her protective lenses. ‘Do you really think anybody would sleep with him?’

I digested that. ‘I take it,’ I said, ‘that’s a no, then.’

‘Damned straight,’ Cee Cee said just as Adam slid behind the wheel.

‘Now,’ the driver said, flexing his fingers experimentally before switching on the ignition. ‘I’m thinking this whole thing with the statue and Father Dom and Bryce has really stressed us all out. My parents have a hot tub, you know, which is really ideal for stress like the kind we’ve all been through today, and I suggest that we all go to my place first for a soak . . .’

‘Tell you what,’ I said. ‘Let’s skip the hot tub this time, and just go straight to the hospital. Maybe, if there’s time later—’

‘Yes.’ Adam looked heavenwards. ‘There is a god.’

Cee Cee said, from the back seat, ‘She said maybe, numbskull. God, try to control yourself.’

Adam glanced at me as he eased out of his parking space. ‘Am I coming on too strong?’

‘Uh,’ I said. ‘Maybe . . .’

‘The thing is, it’s been so long since even a remotely interesting girl has shown up around here.’ Adam, I saw with some relief, was a very careful driver – not like Sleepy, who seemed to think stop signs actually said Pause. ‘I mean, I’ve been surrounded by Kelly Prescotts and Debbie Mancusos for sixteen years. It’s such a relief to have a Susannah Simon around for a change. You decimated Kelly this morning when you went, “Hmm, do angels leave blood stains? I don’t think so.”’

Adam went on in this vein for the rest of the trip to the hospital. I wasn’t quite sure how Cee Cee could stomach it. Unless I was mistaken, she felt the same way about him that he evidently felt about me. Only I didn’t think his crush on me was very serious – if it had been, he wouldn’t have been able to joke about it. Cee Cee’s crush on him, however, looked to me like the real thing. Oh, she was able to tease him and even insult him, but I’d looked into the rear-view mirror a couple times and caught her looking at the back of his head in a manner that could only be called besotted.

But just when she was sure he wasn’t looking.

When Adam pulled up in front of the Carmel hospital, I thought he had stopped at a country club or a private house by mistake. OK, a really big private house, but hey, you should have seen some of the places in the Valley.