He smiled. "If you can put up with the racket my mixer makes. I'm about to throw together a batch of bread, which I'll let rise overnight and bake first thing tomorrow morning. Grab a stool."

I watched him measure ingredients, which he dumped in the big stainless-steel mixing bowl. Once he turned on the machine, we put our conversation on hold until he was done. We chatted while I watched him remove the sticky mass of dough, kneading and adding flour until the whole of it was smooth and elastic. He oiled a big wash pan, turned the dough in it until its surface glistened, and then covered it with a towel. He put the pan in the oven where the pilot light would generate the warmth necessary for the bread to rise.

"How much are you making?" I asked, looking at the quantity of dough.

"Four big loaves and two batches of dinner rolls, all for Rosie," he said. "I may do up a pan of sticky buns if you're interested."

"Always. I take it Lewis went home?"

"I dropped him at the airport Saturday. And speaking of him, he did apologize for butting in, which may be a first. I guess it never occurred to him that his flying out would have that effect. I told him there was no point worrying. What's done is done."

"Someone said the same thing to me yesterday under different circumstances," I said. "At any rate, I'm glad the two of you are back on solid ground."

"Never any doubt of that," he said. "What about you? I didn't see much of you this weekend. How's your new fellow?"

"Good question," I said. I told Henry the sorry saga of my bad behavior, risks taken, laws broken, gains, losses, and tension-filled escapes. He enjoyed the tale a lot more than Cheney had and for that I was grateful.

A little after six, I returned to my place and fixed myself a hot hard-boiled-egg sandwich, with more mayo and salt than your internist would recommend. I was wadding up my paper towel when the phone rang. I tossed the wad and waited until the caller began to speak. Marty Blumberg identified himself and I picked up. "Hey, Marty. It's me. I just now walked in."

"I hope you don't mind me calling you at home. Something weird's come up and I'd be curious what you think."

"Sure." I picked up traffic noises in the background and pictured him calling from a pay phone.

"You want the long version or the short?"

"Long stories are always better."