GIVE OUR FEE AWAY.
The door opened and Susan came in with a large canvas tote bag with the PBS logo on it.
'No patients?' I said.
'Teaching day,' Susan said.
'But you sounded so down when you called last night that I canceled class and came over to welcome you home. What happened to your cheek?'
'Line of duty,' I said.
'You think my name on the door would look good in script?'
'No.'
'Nice bag,' I said.
'Official Cambridge tote bag,' she said.
She put the tote bag down on one of my empty client chairs and took a large thermos out of it. It was a tan and blue thing, the kind Dunkin' Donuts sells you with a starter fill of coffee. She put it on my desk.
'Decaf,' she said.
'Thank God,' I said.
A box of donuts came out next, and two plastic coffee cups and two pale pink linen napkins.
'You bought donuts?' I said.
'Yes.'
'I wasn't aware you knew how.'
'I don't. But I watched the other people in line.'
I opened the box. Plain donuts. Perfect.
'Do you know how to eat a donut?' I said.
'I'll watch you on the first one,' Susan said.
She opened the thermos and poured two cups of coffee into the plastic cups. I ate half a donut.
'Ugh,' Susan said.
'Is that how it's done?'
'Girls sometimes take smaller bites,' I said.
'I certainly hope so,' Susan said.
She picked up one of the donuts between her thumb and forefinger and broke off a crumb and put the rest of the donut back. She took a bite of the crumb. I ate the other half of my first donut and drank some coffee, and looked at her. She had on some kind of expensive white tee-shirt, and jeans that fit her well, and some low black cowboy boots with silver trim. I always felt as if I breathed more deeply when I was looking at her, as if I were taking in more oxygen, and doing it more easily, as if the air were clearer.
'Welcome home,' Susan said.
'Yes,' I said.
'It went badly,' Susan said.
'Mostly,' I said, 'it didn't go at all.'
'You found Anthony Meeker,' Susan said.
I shrugged.
'You couldn't prevent Shirley's death,' Susan said.
'No.'
'You weren't able to find who killed her.'
'No.'
'But you accept that, don't you.'
'You can't solve every case,' I said.
'You still don't know what was going on between Anthony and Marty Anaheim.'
'No.'
'But you accept that too, don't you.'
'Lot of stuff I don't know,' I said.
'And Anthony?'
'No one hired me to protect him,' I said.
'No one hired me to keep him in Vegas.'
'And Bibi?'
