“I said if she fucked with you, I’d be right there ready to blame her for malpractice and sexual harassment and some other stuff. I said she should watch her back. She started crying at that last part. I won’t lie, that felt pretty bad. Tried to soften it a little, but that only made it worse. God. This was pretty fucked up of me, wasn’t it?”

“Jesus, Ray. What is wrong with you? Sexual harassment?”

“Somewhere at some point she’s bound to have stepped out of line, right? Everyone does.”

“Malpractice doesn’t apply to receptionists, Ray.”

He smiles and makes some clicking sound, as though I’d guessed a secret, and I do not react, ever mindful that the panes of glass dividing me and my guests could quickly flip, turning my guests into the audience and me into the show.

“Here’s the deal,” I say, edging as close to the truth as possible without touching the line. “I had that irrational freak-out about the kid, but I was wrong. It was midlife crisis shit. I still wanted to get rid of him, like you said I should, just to keep this house from going crazy—just to keep me from going crazy in this house. So I said yes when he asked if I’d take a look at his swollen glands. Figured I’d size him up, get his weak spot. Had him into the office, drew some blood, and changed my mind. He was fine. Nothing came from it anyway, because he went and offed himself before I had a chance to interfere. He was fucked up. That’s what I was picking up on, okay? He wasn’t sleeping with Elizabeth. He was desperate for a mother figure, and he was lost and crazy. Hand to God, Ray, I didn’t have anything to do with this shit. You’ve got to believe me, man.”

He is earnest and childlike when he says without moving his lips, “I do.”

“You believe me.”

“I do. You should have told me all this earlier. You had me going out of my mind over there, Bobby. I thought you’d snapped, and then that nurse said that shit.”

“Office manager.”

“Whatever, dickwad. She made me think maybe you’d gone off the deep end over this kid. What was I supposed to do?”

“It’s fine, Ray.” My objective: de-escalation. My sole purpose in this, my final exchange with Ray, is to convince him that his distance and silence will demonstrate loyalty, which is his most valued virtue of all. I can’t have him turning on me. He knows too much. Until that report comes back from the coroner, Ray is dangerous to me and my family. “You did right, man, okay? It’s just—you weren’t all off when you called her crazy. Simone.”