“What in the world was there to like about him? He was a racist pig!”

“He made comments to you?”

She slammed her lips shut. “Not directly.”

“How about indirectly?”

“No,” she admitted. “But he was associated with that vile hate group.”

“The Preservers of Ethnic Integrity?”

“So you know about it.”

“Yes, Doctor, we do. Did Tarpin ever talk to you about it?”

“No, he didn’t. But that freak that Tarpin brought around sure spoke his mind!”

“Darrell Holt?”

Maryam was shocked. “Yes. Darrell Holt. Exactly! How did…”

“What do you know about him?” Marge tried to hide her excitement.

“What do you know about him?” Maryam retorted.

Turning a question into a question. Marge kept it short. “He was the local head of the Preservers of Ethnic Integrity.”

“That little freak had the nerve to insinuate that I acted like I did because I was ashamed of my heritage. That to get in touch with who I am, I needed to figure out what I was. As if you can hide being African-American. I am very proud of who I am and want my people to see me as a role model of what they can become. I was never so insulted in my life. I would have kicked him out on the spot, but then Dr. Baldwin walked in and the three of them went into the doctor’s office.”

“What did the three of them talk about?”

“I have no idea. I was so unnerved by the conversation that I went out on my lunch break!”

“Did you talk to Dr. Baldwin about it?”

She lowered her head. “No! I only spoke to that little freak the one time. I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. But I did tell Tarpin not to bring him around when I was here.”

“So Holt came around often?”

“Not often at all.” Maryam hesitated. “I saw him maybe three times in my eighteen months here.”

Three times. More than just an accident. Marge said, “How did Tarpin respond when you asked him not to bring Holt around?”

Maryam waited. “Actually, he sort of apologized for the freak’s behavior. He claimed that Holt was a bit outspoken but had his good points.”

“What kind of good points?”

“I never asked because I didn’t care.”

“Why do you think Holt was meeting with Baldwin?”

The question made her anxious. “I couldn’t imagine why. Except that Dee often…extends herself to disturbed people. She’s very ecumenical.”

“Dee was ecumenical,” Marge said.

“Yes. They both were.”

Marge regrouped her thoughts. Every time someone spoke about “Dr. Baldwin,” Marge assumed it was Mervin—a holdover from growing up a military brat. “Doctor” always meant a man. “So it was Dee who met with Tarpin and Holt?”

“Yes, didn’t I say that?”

“You didn’t specify which doctor,” Marge told her. “Did you know that Darrell Holt was a patient of Mervin Baldwin’s?”