“He might not. If it happened through a hospital he’d file a report to whatever insurance provider had contacted the Agency, and you could find it through the Freedom of Information Act. The Agency’s a state agency. They’d have to let you see it. But it doesn’t mean he’d talk about it, and I wouldn’t ask him.”

“What if it was a private gig?”

“You mean, if he was working for a client directly, not through the Agency or through an insurance company.”

“Yeah. I understand that happens from time to time.”

“Sure. I definitely wouldn’t know about those.”

“Why not?”

“They’re kind of a gray area, legally speaking.”

“Do you have any private clients?”

“What part of ‘it’s a gray area, legally speaking’ are you having trouble with?”

“You can tell me confidentially.”

I raised my cup to Langdon. “I appreciate the coffee, but I’m not that cheap. Or stupid.”

“Fair enough,” Langdon said. “Who would know if he had any private clients?”

“Katie might,” I said. “His wife. You’ve spoken to her?”

Langdon nodded. “Briefly. We asked her who she knew that might want to do harm to her husband. She wasn’t coming up with anyone.”

“You might ask her again. She might have thought you were asking about someone who had a grudge against him, not one of his private clients.”

“Would she tell us?”

“She might. Jimmy wouldn’t like it, but Jimmy’s missing.”

“Would you come with me?”

“To ask her?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“You know her husband. You know her. It might help.”

I shook my head. “I don’t think that’s a great idea.”

“Why not?”

“I’m not a cop, and I don’t know that I want to be involved.”

“This is your friend.”

“This is someone I’m friendly with. There’s a difference.”

“Is there any other reason?”

“It would take more time than we have.”

Langdon smiled. “This is your way of telling me our date here has come to an end.”

“I do have paperwork to fill out. And then I have other things on my agenda.”

“How does this compare to your other ‘dates’?”

“Not bad. We covered most of the basics. You never got to the theological aspects of my job.”

“There are theological aspects to your job?”

“Most of the time on my dates I get asked whether I think murdered people coming back proves that God exists.”

“That’s a pretty deep question for a first date.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Out of curiosity, what do you say?”

There was a squeal of tires behind me, the thump of something fleshy hitting something that was not, and the sound of someone screaming. Both Langdon and I turned to the sound.