Tom jumped at a loud rapping on his office door. Before he could say anything, the door opened and Melba Price leaned in, her face somber.

“I just got a strange call on the main office line,” his chief nurse said softly. “A man. He gave me a private message for you, but he wouldn’t say who he was.”

Melba’s view of the videotape was blocked by the weekend bag on the desk. Closing his hand over the tape, Tom picked it up and dropped it into the bag, then zipped the bag shut. “What did he say?”

“He said, ‘I was at the Frozen Chosin.’ Then he said to tell you he was parked on the south side of the office.”

It took a few moments for Tom to orient himself. In all the years he’d practiced medicine here, he’d never had occasion to think about how the building lay in relation to the cardinal directions. Thinking about the sunlight in the late afternoons, he realized that the rear of the office faced east.

“Dr. Cage,” Melba said, stepping fully inside and closing the door. “You’re free on bail, right?”

“You know I am.”

“And there are conditions to the bail, you said.”

“That’s right.” He glanced down at the zipped bag. “And I’ve already broken at least one of them.”

Melba sighed, her eyes clouded with sorrow and anxiety. “Where are you going?”

Tom avoided her gaze. “I’m going home to lie down. I’m having some angina. Just as you told Penn I was.”

She shook her head with regret. “You mean that’s what I’m supposed to tell the police.”

Tom finally looked into her eyes. “That’s all you know, Mel. I went home to lie down, and I never came back. And you never got that phone call.”

The nurse waved her hand dismissively. “I just want to know you know what you’re doing. You’re not about to try anything crazy, are you?”

He gave her the most confident smile he could manage. “Have you ever thought I was crazy?”

“All the time, thank goodness.” The nurse smiled, but the worry lines remained around her eyes.

Tom went to the window and pulled back the curtain. The police car was still there. And still empty, or so it appeared.

“Who you going to meet out there?” Melba asked.

Tom let the curtain fall, then turned and picked up his bag. As he moved to the door, he reached out and squeezed his nurse’s warm hand. “A friend, Mel. A very old friend. You take care of yourself.”

She reached after him as he departed. “You call me if you need help. I mean it. I’ll do anything you need, Doc. You know that.”

Tom felt wetness in his eyes. If only I were the man everyone seems to believe I am.