“Too bad. I could help you plan your wedding. Don’t get a chocolate cake or a red velvet one. They stick in people’s teeth. The guests get drunk and they’re grinning and showing off their red and black teeth. Place begins to look like a horror show. You get scared. Like really, really afraid.”

She smiled. He had lightened the ugly moment. She grabbed another box. Under a muzzle big enough for a camel was a box of paper surgical gowns. They had to be twenty years old. “I’ll give you a nickel if you can find some trash bags.”

“My week’s salary,” he murmured, and left to search.

It took hours and they ended up with nine bags full of rubbish. Cait had found a big black marker and labeled the boxes. Coop made a list of what was there. They could add it to their data bank and keep track of how much they had and what they needed to buy.

It was nearly dawn when they finished. Cait flopped down in one of the chairs in the waiting room, Coop across from her.

“Tired?” he asked.

“Exhausted.”

“Let’s go home.”

The way he said it made her smile. “Gladly. We can—” She was about to suggest breakfast but the phone rang. She looked at her watch: 4:42 a.m. “This isn’t office hours and it’s Sunday.”

Coop’s face was serious. “Could be an emergency.” He picked up the receiver and said “Yes” about eight times. “I’ll be there as soon as I can... No, but I have someone here who can tell me.” He hung up and looked at Caitlyn. “On the drive home, you can tell me where the Fredericks place is.”

“It’s—” Caitlyn began, but stopped. “I’ll go with you.”

“You don’t need to. I can...” He smiled. “Okay. Help me gather things. Just so you understand, it’s possibly a rabid raccoon.”

“Who was on the phone and what did they say?”

“Celeste Wigman Schneider. She said—”

“Oh,” Caitlyn cut in. “That woman is always hysterical. She’s had three husbands and her kids are constantly in trouble. What were they doing at that old house in the wee hours of the morning?”

“Being threatened by an insane raccoon was what I was told. Do you know everyone in this town?”

“Pretty much. Tell me what you need.” They gathered what Coop thought he might need, both for capture and testing. He grabbed his bag of surgical instruments.

Minutes later, they were in her Jeep and heading toward the old homestead. He asked about it. “Built in the 1800s, I guess. It’s been falling down for years. Kelly said it was a make-out place when she was a kid.”

“Is it still?”

“Yeah, it is. Adam did some repairs but it was years ago. He said he didn’t want the roof falling in and killing his future players. He’s the head coach at KU.”