Daisy gratefully followed his lead back to playful flirting and tried to look thoughtful. “You could be right. I’ve been sexually deprived for most of my adult life. It could be catching up to me.”

“Exactly. If we concentrated very hard on this problem, we could have it solved in no time.”

“It’s worth a try,” Daisy said. “How long do you think it will take?”

“Depends how hard we concentrate.”

“I wouldn’t want to injure you.”

“I’m insured.”

“Lloyds of London?”

“Blue Cross of Virginia.”

At five-thirty they met Kevin and Elsie. Elsie’s red Converse high-top All Stars were soaked, her hat was off, and her hair looked like it had been styled and spray-starched by Don King.

“Water rides,” Elsie said. “They were a blast.” She shifted her eyes to Schmidt and his partner. They were standing at a distance, watching from the shade of a Belgian waffle stand. “I feel kind of guilty having all this fun when I’m supposed to be protecting you. Of course, I suppose we have to have someone watching out for Kevin, too. We wouldn’t want him kidnapped or nothing.”

“Man, this is the best day of my life,” Kevin said. “We got the front seat on the Rebel Yell. Then Elsie showed me how to make the old-time cars stall so that we held up the whole ride and the attendant had to come give us a push. You should have been there, Daisy. Some big guy with a beer can tattooed on his forehead tried to muscle in ahead of us on the bumper cars and Elsie told him if he didn’t watch his manners, she was gonna hurt him real bad!”

“I don’t put up with bad manners,” Elsie said.

Daisy and Steve nervously glanced at the pocketbook hanging on Elsie’s arm.

“You didn’t have to use your pocketbook, did you?” Daisy asked.

“Nope. Haven’t used my pocketbook all day. Too bad, too. I’m feeling in top form, but the opportunity hasn’t presented itself yet.”

“Well, the day isn’t over,” Steve said.

Daisy elbowed him hard in the ribs. “I think it’s best if you avoid using your pocketbook,” she said to Elsie. “Too many kids running around.”

“You’re probably right. We’re having a good time anyway, aren’t we, Kevin?”

“Yeah,” Kevin said. “The best part was when Elsie lost her false teeth.”

“Opened my mouth to yell on the Berserker and they fell right out,” Elsie said. “Was the darnedest thing. Lucky the lady in front of me caught them.”

“She didn’t catch them,” Kevin said. “They snagged onto her hair.”

“It’s true,” Elsie agreed. “I’ve never seen anything like it. She had hair out to here. Don’t know how she ever got it that way. And the teeth just kind of caught hold in all that frizz.”