She nodded. “Dr. H. told me I should get back into my old routine—said my old habits had been good ones. Before Mama got terminal, I used to drive into Oxnard and shop at Randall’s for feed. Old Lady Randall used to work the counter and she and Mama were old friends and I used to like going in there and talking to her, hearing the way things used to be. Then Mrs. Randall took sick and her boys started working the counter and I had nothing to say to them. That and my energies were flagging so I switched to a mail-order feed outfit that delivered. When Dr. Harrison said it would be good for me to get out, I started going to Randall’s again. That’s where I met Pierce.”

She smiled. “Maybe it was all part of his plan—Dr. Harrison’s. Knowing Pierce and me both. Figuring there’d be some kind of chemistry there. He always said no, but maybe he was being modest like he always is. Whatever the truth, there was a chemistry. Must’ve been, cause the first time I saw Pierce he looked like nothing but an over-the-hill hippie and I’m an old Republican ranch girl, shook Ronald Reagan’s hand, wouldn’t normally be attracted to that type. But something about Pierce . . . he had a nobility. I know your detective friend probably told you stories about the way Pierce used to be, but he became a different man.”

I said, “People change.”

“That’s something I didn’t learn till late in life. When Pierce finally got up the courage to ask me out for coffee, he was so shy about it, it was . . . almost cute.” She shrugged. “Maybe we met at just the right time—the planets moving perfectly or something.” Tiny smile. “Or maybe Dr. Harrison’s a tricky one.”

“When did you tell Dr. Harrison you were seeing Pierce?”