“They did.”

“How’d she spend her time?”

“Mostly she sat in her room by herself, dragged herself to meals, returned alone. When I’d pass her in the hall, I’d smile and say hello. But I kept my distance because of the pink tab. A couple of times I think she nodded back, but mostly she shuffled on, keeping her eyes down.”

“Was she medicated?”

“I never read her chart. Now that I think about it, it’s possible.”

“The group leader who tried to draw her out. Do you remember a name?”

“Jody Lavery,” she said. “She was a clinical social worker—very nice to me when I had my problem with Larner. Years later I ran into her at a convention, and we ended up becoming friends, did some cross-referring. But forget about talking to her. She died two years ago. And she and I never talked about Caroline. Caroline was more of a nonentity than an entity. If not for the pink tab, I probably wouldn’t have paid her any attention, at all. In fact, the only—”

“Sir, madam,” said the waiter. Our dishes were set in place, and we cut into our steaks.

“Excellent,” I said, after the first bite.

“Glad you like it.” She speared a french fry.

“You were about to say something.”

“Was I?”

“You were talking about Caroline not being memorable. Then you said ‘In fact, the only—’ ”

“Hmm—oh yes, I was saying the only person I ever saw her talk to was one of the maintenance men. Willie something . . . a black guy . . . Willie Burns. I remember his name because it was the same as Robert Burns and I recall thinking there was nothing Scottish about him.”

“He paid special attention to Caroline?”

“I suppose you could say that. Once or twice I came across him and Caroline chatting in the hall, and they moved apart very quickly and Willie resumed working. And one time I did see Willie coming out of Caroline’s room, carrying a mop and broom. When he saw me, he said she’d been sick, he was cleaning up. Volunteering an explanation. It was kind of furtive. Whatever the situation, Burns didn’t stick around long. One week, he was there, then he was gone and Caroline went back to being alone.”

“A week,” I said.

“It seemed like a short period.”

“Do you remember what month this was?”

“Had to be August. I was only there during August.”

Janie Ingalls had been murdered in early June.

“How old was Willy Burns?”

“Not much older than Caroline—maybe twenty, twenty-one. I thought it was nice, someone paying attention to her. Do you know something about him?”

I shook my head. “You didn’t read the chart, but did you ever hear why Caroline was sent to Achievement House?”