If it was good, Drake said, shes a rotten psychic. The word has just been passed that the sheriff has a dead-opeu-and-shut case against Dorothy Fenner and that hes prepared to prove you were the accomplice who waited for her in the canoe when she tried to steal evidence from George Alders house Saturday night Where else could it have been? The sheriff had examined all other places. He told Devine the precise time it had happened.Thoughts? Howd that happen? Dino pulled back his coat to reveal his badge and his piece. This is Dr. John Wyman. You called my office seeking information on Sara Ewes? The dark waters reflected the moonlight. The yellow security lights swayed in the wind. Only one of the houseboats showed any light in its windows. The expensive craft were at the west end of the dock. The ones nearest the asphalt I stood on were not only modest, a few of them were in shambles. Paint faded, windows patched with tape, not much bigger than a prison cell. I doubted that these ever left the dock. Theyd work for beer parties just fine as people, drinks and drugs sprawled over the land, keeping the shabby houseboats nothing more than storage bins. The elites at the far end of the dock probably roared up here just to stand on the bow and piss. It was strange then that the pavilion would be at my end. It was behind me in the wooded area. Id checked it out. It was empty. Need that lawyer yet? Im going to need better geography than that, Dino said. Were just going to use it as a shield, he explained. Theyve lost us now, and if we can keep out of sight they may think we went aboard one of these larger yachts. And they almost covered them up, too. But then he heard snores wafting up from the main floor. He edged down the stairs and saw Valentine sleeping on the couch. Now he understood. That was why she had gone there first, to make sure the Russian wasnt in his bedroom. I was about to ring again when I heard his voice ask,Who is it? He didnt open the door to just anyone. Not many people in Washington do, other than my sister. But Slick had grown especially wary since the time he reluctantly had opened it to a soft-spoken young couple who claimed to be Jehovahs Witnesses. They had promptly bopped him overthe head and made off with about $2,000 in cash and valuables. Does this mean Braddid kill all those people? What is it? Well, I get around where the yachtsmen are quite a bit. They get a kick out of me. Some of them feel sorry for me. Poor devils, if they knew how sorry I felt for them, holding their noses on the grindstone and running like hell in the economic treadmill to keep the grindstone turning faster and faster. Be still my heart, Ruth said, batted her eyelashes at me, and then went into the house to fetch my gin. Well, Drake told him, I thought you should know that—.