“Wards with special needs get extra payments. Right now the max is a hundred seventy a month. That’s through Children’s Services, but there are other bureaucracies you can tap if you know how to play with paper. The system’s full of goodies.”

“Would kids with A.D.D. be considered special needs?”

“Absolutely. It’s a recognized disability. Is there any point in my asking you why you want to know all this?”

“There are some people under suspicion,” I said. “Milo wants to know if they’re getting rich at the public trough.”

“Dear Milo. Has he lost weight?”

“Maybe a little.”

“Meaning no. Well, I haven’t either. You know what I say to constitutionally skinny people? Go away. Anyway, if you want you can give me names of these suspicious individuals, when I get back to the office I’ll run them through the computer.”

“Drew— probably Andrew— and Cherish Daney.” I spelled the surname and thanked her.

“Cherish as in I love you?”

“As in.”

“Except maybe she loves money too much?”

“It’s a possibility.”

“Anything else you want to tell me?”

“How many foster children can one family care for?”

“Six.”

“These people have eight.”

“Then they’re being naughty. Not that anyone’s likely to notice. There’s a shortage of what the state feels are decent homes and very few caseworkers to look into details. If nothing terrible happens, no one pays attention.”

“What comprises a decent home?” I said.

“Two parents, middle class would be great but not necessary. No felony record. Optimally, someone’s working but there’s also someone in the home to supervise.”

“The Daneys fit the bill on all accounts,” I said. “Does the state pay for homeschooling?”

“Same answer: It depends on how you fill out the forms. There’s a clothing allowance, a supplemental clothing allowance, all sorts of health care surcharges that can be tapped. What’s up, darling? Another one of those scams?”

“It’s complicated, Olivia.”

She sighed. “With you it always is.”

* * *

Fulton Seminary offered one degree, a master of divinity. According to its website, the school’s curriculum emphasized “scriptural, ministerial, and public service aspects of professional evangelical training.” Students were allowed a range of “intellectual concentrations” including Christian Leadership, Evangelical Promotion, and Program Supervision.

Several paragraphs were devoted to the school’s philosophical underpinnings: God was perfect, faith in Jesus superseded all actions, humans were depraved until saved, worship and service were essential elements of fixing a world in dire need of repair.

The campus sat on three hilly acres on Glendale’s northern rim. A fifteen-minute ride to the motel on Chevy Chase.

I scrolled through pages of photos. Small groups of clean-cut, smiling students, rolling lawns, the same glass-fronted sixties building in every shot. No mention of an on-site cemetery.