“I don’t have a clue as to what was going through her mind.”

“Let’s talk about pheasants,” I then said. “You have pheasants along the riverbank right outside your door.”

“I haven’t noticed.”

“I noticed because we landed in the field there. And that’s right, you wouldn’t have noticed unless you waded through half an acre of overgrown grass and weeds and went to the water’s edge, near the old pier.”

She said nothing, but I could tell she was getting unsettled.

“So my question is, how might Carrie or any of the inmates have known about the pheasants?”

Still, she was silent.

“You know very well why, don’t you?” I forced her.

She stared at me.

“A maximum security patient should never have been in that field or even close to it, Ms. Blaustein. If you don’t wish to talk to me about it, then I’ll just let the police take it up with you, since Carrie’s escape is rather much a priority for law enforcement these days. Indeed, I’m sure your fine mayor isn’t happy about the continuing bad publicity Carrie brings to a city that has become famous for defeating crime.”

“I don’t know how Carrie knew,” Ms. Blaustein finally said. “This is the first I’ve ever heard of fucking pheasants. Maybe someone on the staff said something to her. Maybe one of the delivery people from the store, someone from the outside, such as yourself, in other words.”

“What store?”

“The patient privilege programs allow them to earn credits or money for the store. Snacks, mostly. They get one delivery a week, and they have to use their own money.”

“Where did Carrie get money?”

Blaustein would not say.

“What day did her deliveries come?”

“Depends. Usually early in the week, Monday, Tuesday, late in the afternoon, usually.”

“She escaped late in the afternoon, on a Tuesday,” I said.

“That’s correct.” Her eyes got harder.

“And what about the deliveryperson?” I then asked. “Has anybody bothered to see if he or she might have had anything to do with this?”

“The deliveryperson was a he,” Blaustein said with no emotion. “No one has been able to locate him. He was a substitute for the usual person, who apparently was out sick.”

“A substitute? Right. Carrie was interested in more than potato chips!” My voice rose. “Let me guess. The delivery people wear uniforms and drive a van. Carrie puts on a uniform and walks right out with her deliveryman. Gets in the van and is out of here.”

“Speculation. We don’t know how she got out.”

“Oh, I think you do, Ms. Blaustein. And I’m wondering if you didn’t help Carrie with money, too, since she was so special to you.”

She got to her feet and pointed her finger at me again.

“If you’re accusing me of helping her escape . . .”