“Does it matter?”

“No. But I’m curious.”

Rad scowled. “You’re such a dick sometimes, Marty.”

He blinked in surprise. “What? Why? I mean, your opinion matters to me. It just doesn’t matter in the big picture, does it? Neither does mine, for that matter. Science alone will inform us if it’s human or not.”

“Smooth recovery, Merdoc.”

Now Marty scowled. “All right. How about we address this Merdoc business once and for all? I’m sorry, Rad. All right? I’m sorry I wasn’t transparent with you about who I am. It wasn’t personal. I hate being known as The Merdoc. I hate it. I want nothing to do with that fool. I guess I didn’t tell you everything because I was afraid you’d act like everybody else.”

“And how’s that?”

“You’d ridicule me. You’d call me The Merdoc. You’d do exactly what you’ve been doing since yesterday.”

“I’m only pushing your buttons because you lied to me. If you told me the truth from the beginning—”

“What truth, Rad?” he snapped. “What lies, for that matter? I simply didn’t tell you I was on a television show. If you never told me you had a television show because you didn’t want to for whatever reason, I don’t think I’d be all up in arms about it.”

“That’s not the same, Marty, and you know it. You were one of the most famous people on the planet for a while, or one of the most talked about at least. That’s probably something you should tell the person you’re fucking.”

“Yes, you’re right, Rad,” he said, lowering his voice. “Fucking. And that’s all it is, isn’t it? What we’re doing? Fucking. You’ve made it pretty bloody clear you don’t want anything more than that, so I don’t know where you get off—”

“I’ve made it clear?” she snapped back. “You call me maybe once a week, or once every two weeks. That’s on you, not me.”

“Why’s it on me? You can call me—”

“You’re the man, Marty! You call me, you chase me. That’s how it works, nature’s rules, from the lowliest insects all the way up to us. Courtship, ever hear of it? And besides, I do call you. I called you last night, didn’t I?”

“What are you getting at, Rad? You want us to start dating? Get serious, get married, have kids? Is that what you want?”

She glowered at him. “Jesus, you really are a dick.” She shot to her feet and stormed out of the shed.

“Rad!”

She disappeared from sight.

∆∆∆

When Dr. Montero and Jacky returned to the shed, Jacky said, “Where’s Rad?”

“Beats me,” Marty said. He was back at the necropsy table, examining the skull.

“She didn’t just vanish into thin air, did she?”

He shrugged. “She went for a walk. I don’t know where.”

“You two had a fight, didn’t you? You did. And let me tell you, Marty. I don’t blame her for being pissed off with you. I’d be pissed off if the man I was dating turned out to be Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I’d better go look for her. Which way did she go?”