'Anything else?'
'Those are the most repetitive elements.'
'Any of it meaningful to you?'
'Now that I know about the power plant, I suppose there could be an ecological flavour to it - bleeding the earth, stink as a symbol for pollution.'
'How does 'needle games' fit in with that?'
'Needle games and miles of tubing,' I recalled. 'When I first heard it, I thought he was expressing his fear of treatment. Of course, back then I thought 'glass canyon' meant the hospital.'
'What about 'plumes' and 'zombies'?'
'I don't know.'
He waited awhile before asking:
'That it?'
When I nodded, he put the notepad away.
'I don't know,' I said, 'maybe Mainwaring's right and I'm over interpreting. Maybe it's just crazy talk that doesn't mean a damn thing.'
'Who knows?' said Milo. 'Over the years I've learned to respect your intuition, pal. But I don't want to raise any unrealistic expectations. You're a long way from restoring Cadmus's virginity.'
'Forget virginity. I'd settle for the truth.'
'Sure of that?'
'Not really.'
When I walked through the door, Robin gave me a mischievous smile.
'A sweet young thing named Jennifer has been calling every half hour.'
I kissed her and took off my jacket.
'Thanks. I'll call her after dinner.'
'Dinner is pizza and a salad from Angelino's. Is she as cute as she sounds?'
'Absolutely. She's also a former . . . student. And seventeen years old.'
Pretending to count on her fingers, she said:
'Less than half your age.'
'Now that's a grim thought.'
She came over and nuzzled my ear.
'That's okay. I'll still love you when you're old and grey.' She touched my hair. 'Greyer'
'Gee, thanks.'
'So tell me, do all your former students call you Alex in that breathlessly eager way?'
'Only the cute ones.'
'Swine.'
She bit down on the ear.
'Ouch.'
She drew away, laughing.
'I'm putting the pizza in the oven and taking a bath while it warms. Here's Jenny-poo's number. Why don't you call her, Alex, and when you've worked yourself up sufficiently, come in and join me?'
Handing me the number, she sashayed away.
I dialled and got Mrs. Leavitt.
'Oh, you just missed her! But she should be back in a couple of hours.'
'I'll try back later.'
'Please do, Doctor. I know she wants to talk to you.'
I heard the bath water running. There was another call I wanted to make, and I went into the library and leafed through the Rolodex.
Unsure whether Lou Cestare was still wooing fat cats on The Incentive or back at the Willamette Valley estate, I dialled the yacht and got a taped message to call Oregon. The Willamette number was another tape, informing me that it was after hours but that in case of emergency Mr. Cestare could be reached through a beeper code. I punched the code and was connected to a preschool voice.
'Hello, this is Brandon Gestare. Who is this, please?'
'Hello, Brandon. My name is Alex. May I please talk to your dad?'
'Are you a client?'
'Yes. My name is Alex.'
'Hi, Alex.'
'Hi. Is your dad there?'
'He's in the bathroom.'
'How about your mom?'
'She's breast-feeding Hillary.'
'Oh. How old are you, Brandon?'
'Five and a half?'
'Do you know how to write?'
'Just printing.'
'If I spell my name, could you print it on a piece of paper and give it to your dad when he gets out of the bathroom?'
'Yes. Let me get a piece of - '
The end of his sentence was cut off by Lou's voice ('Who is it, Bran? . . . Thanks, tiger . . . No, that's all right, I'll talk to him . . . What? . . . No, you don't have - Brandon, it's not necessary. I've - okay, okay, don't get upset, sure, let me explain it to him.').
Cestare came to the line, chuckling.
'It's Lou, Alex. Brandon insists on writing your name down.'
'Put him on.' I laughed.
The boy returned and said, 'What's the letters?'
I dictated my name, and he read it back to me.
'Perfect. Brandon. Now, could you please give it to your dad?'
'Yeah. He's right here.'
'Thanks. Bye.'
'Bye.'
'Hi again,' said Cestare.
'You've got a conscientious staff, Lou.'
'Train 'em young. What's up?'
'I need some information on a recent bond issue. The Bitter Canyon Power Plant.'
'Good bond, but you've got enough long term in your portfolio.'
'I'm not interested in buying, just in finding out some of the details.'
'What kinds of details?'
'Some background on the issue. Who bought into it in a big way.'
Sudden wariness crept into his voice.
'Why do you want to know this?'
'It's related to a case I'm working on.'
That silenced him for a moment.
'What does psych have to do with a power plant?'
'I'm not free to get into that, Lou.'
'You know something about the issue that I should?'
'No. I-'
'Because I'm into it sufficiently heavy to get burned if something goes wrong. If there's even the slightest nuance of a problem, I want to know about it. Right now.'
'Is it a shaky issue?'
'Hello, no. It's a triple A-rated, MBIC-insured.' He paused. 'But so were the Washington Power bonds. The
