Why did she read herself into these texts? She was Lucy. She’d lost—not a pocket, but her key. And she was Mr. King’s needleworking daughter, telling herself many times not to drop a stitch as she patched her quilt in the hospital, thinking it emblematic of the thread of her life. But this was surely a coincidence. Wasn’t it? And the rainbow? It was her running joke with Alex. But what about that last riddle? Too bizarre. That was definitely Lucy; but she’d run it past Alex and Simon—see if they had the first idea what she was on about. No one else would know the reference, would they? She’d say nothing: she’d show them, then ask the question.

The batch finished, she decided to have some tea before doing the next sheets. It was getting toward noon; she could reach Alex, hear his voice.

The kettle on the Rayburn whistled, and Lucy poured water over the teabag. She took her cell phone to the back door, looking for a stronger signal away from the thick house walls, and tried the number again. This time it connected, and his direct line rang. Alex’s secretary swooped on it, sounding like Cerberus. They’d spoken in the past about appointments, but she felt self-conscious now that her relationship with Alex had changed.

“No, I’m sorry. He doesn’t seem to be anywhere in the building, Miss King. I’ve just been looking for him myself. He’s having a busy day and running late all over the place. Can I give him a message?”

Lucy recoiled, feeling guilty at intruding on his “busy day.” It wasn’t important; she’d have a word with him later. The house phone rang, and she hesitated as to whether it was right to answer it.

“If it’s an emergency, I could call Dr. Lovell to the phone?”

Lucy tried to get off the line politely: it wasn’t an emergency, she’d wait and catch Dr. Stafford another time. She brought the call to an end, just as the house phone stopped ringing. She felt temporarily thrown, and considered calling Alex’s cell phone. He often had it on mute or even switched off at the hospital, as was policy if he was in clinic or somewhere close to the monitoring equipment; but at least she could leave him a personal message. Hearing his voice on answer mode would be some consolation. She tried to be positive.