She laughed, finished with a gasp.

“You okay?” I said.

“As if you care.”

“Of course— ”

“I’m on my feet, darling. Which is a positive sign, considering. So how’s it going with Dr. Snow White?”

“Allison?”

“The ivory skin, the black hair, the soft voice, all that gorgeous? The analogy’s obvious. Am I overstepping boundaries, here?”

“Allison’s fine.”

“And Robin?”

“Robin’s in Seattle,” I said.

“Which begs the question.”

“Last time I spoke to her she was doing well, Olivia.”

“So that’s it?” she said.

I didn’t answer.

“I’m a terminal yenta, Alex. Slap my wrist. Seattle, eh? The Genius and I used to go there. Before the computers and the coffee. The Genius could row a boat pretty well, we used to go out on Lake Washington. . . . Robin still with Voice-boy?”

“Yup.”

“Mr. Tra La La,” she said. “She brought him by a few months ago for Sunday brunch. Unlike other people who can’t find the time.”

“Allison and I took you to dinner at the Bel-Air.”

“Don’t quibble. What I’m getting to is that I didn’t care for him.”

“Robin does.”

“He’s too quiet,” she went on. “Aloof, if you ask me. Not that anyone has.”

“I’m always open to your wisdom, Olivia.”

“Ha. So what do you need to know?”

“How well does the state pay for foster care?”

“I was hoping for more of a challenge, darling. First of all, the state mandates foster care and sets up basic fees but each county distributes the funds. Counties also have the discretion to supplement the state. Traditionally, they’ve been tight with the purse strings. The rates vary but not much. Which county?”

“L.A.”

“The other thing you need to know is that, officially, foster parents aren’t paid. A stipulated amount is allocated per child and the custodial adult gets to disburse it.”

“Meaning foster parents are paid,” I said.

“Exactly. The basic rate varies with the age of the child. Four hundred twenty-five a month to five ninety-seven. Older kids get more.”

“I’d assume just the opposite,” I said. “Babies require more care.”

“You’d be thinking logically, darling. This is the government. No doubt some number cruncher set up a formula based on pounds of flesh.”

“What age group gets the max?”

“Over fifteen. Twelve through fourteen gets five forty-six, and so on down to the babies who get four twenty-five. Which doesn’t pay for a lot of formula and diapers. Quite often it’s family members who take the kid in and apply as kinship guardians. That what we’re talking about, here?”

“No, these are nonrelatives,” I said. “Can the basic rate be supplemented?”