“Well, I am afraid you will have to. Though, of course, you don’t have grounds for one. Even if you found a court officer willing to sign one, our lawyer would file an injunction.” Zelda’s lips pulled back in an imitation of a smile. A smug one. “And you should know that I will be filing a complaint with your superiors for bringing that woman into this place. She has already been arrested once today.” Zelda’s rheumy glare made it clear she hoped it wouldn’t be the last.

“Here’s the thing,” said Bruxton. “You can let me see the file now, and this will go away quietly. Or I can put in some calls to some reporters I know.” He leaned forward, putting his hands on the desk. “That’s the thing about being one of New York’s finest. City’s crawling with reporters. When you’ve got a place like Idylhaven—a place that almost killed a patient with experimental detox, where a doctor can fuck his patients with impunity—you’ve got one hot story.”

“Dr. Gorevale is no longer affiliated with Idylhaven,” said Zelda firmly. “Besides, he’s dead.”

“This place used to be called Gorevale House,” Bruxton snapped. “He founded the fucking institution.”

Jesse and I looked at each other. We’d missed that little detail.

“There is no need for foul language,” Zelda answered. “Dr. Gorevale has had nothing to do with the facility for the past several years.”

“But you still referred patients to him, didn’t you?” Bruxton stood straight. “A drug scandal and a sex scandal? The tabloids will have a field day. This place is going to be shut down, and you’ll be ticking off your last years in jail.”

I remembered exactly why I’d thought of Bruxton as a pit bull the first day we met. He’d scared me then. The only thing that had changed was that he was now tearing into other people on my behalf.

Zelda opened a drawer and handed a thin manila folder to Bruxton. He leafed through it.

“This all there is?” he asked. Zelda nodded primly. “Where’s the file from Claudia Moore’s first stay here?”

Zelda’s lips quivered. “I just have one file.”

“I’m going to ask this real slow, so you can follow,” said Bruxton. “Was there more than one file on Claudia?”

“Yes,” said Zelda, in a small voice.

“How many?”

“Two.”

“What happened to the first one?”