“That’s what we called it back in Raleigh. He worked odd jobs to help with the rent but he didn’t usually have any money of his own, so I used to give him a little cash on Saturdays so he could walk down to the store and buy something, or maybe go to the municipal pool or get himself lunch at McDonald’s. He didn’t like to be away from home without money in his pocket.” Ariel stopped pacing and shook her head. “I gave him forty dollars to keep him happy. I didn’t think he’d take it and run. What’s forty dollars in a city like this? After lunch we went back to the room to wait for you two. Then he says, Ariel, I’m going to the lobby and get change for the Coke machine. I said I would give him coins. He said no, I already gave him money, he wanted to change a bill. Twenty minutes and he’s not back, so I went to look for him. He wasn’t down at the soda machine and when I went to the lobby he wasn’t there, either. The clerk told me he saw Orrin waiting for a city bus at the highway stop.”

“Going which direction?” Bose asked.

“You’ll have to ask the clerk.”

“Was Orrin alone or was he with somebody?”

“Clerk didn’t say anything about anybody else.”

Sandra waited until Bose had wrung out of Ariel all the information she was capable of giving. Then she said, “I have a couple of questions, if it’s all right.”

Bose seemed surprised. Ariel sighed impatiently but nodded.

“Last time we talked you said Orrin was gentle, that he would never hurt anyone. Do you remember that?”

Ariel’s lips went taut. “Of course I remember.”

“But when he tried to leave State he fought with the orderly who tried to restrain him.”

“That’s a lie.”

“It may be, but the orderly was wearing a bandage the next day. He claims Orrin bit him.”

“I wouldn’t take anything those people say seriously. I thought you mentioned you quit that job?”

“I did. I don’t work there anymore. I just want to get clear on this.”

Ariel paced a few moments more. Then she said, “Nobody’s perfect, Dr. Cole. I told you Orrin’s gentle, and that’s the truth. Maybe I exaggerated last time we talked, but you were working for the people who locked him up—I didn’t want to say anything to make it worse.”

“Exaggerated how?”

“Orrin had a few encounters when he was growing up. He’s slow to anger, Dr. Cole, and he hates fights, but that doesn’t mean he never got in one. The neighbor children used to bother him. Called him names and all that. Mostly Orrin would run away, but every once in a while he’d lose his patience.”