As if cued, Massengil cleared his throat and said, “We appreciate your coming down on such short notice, Doctor.”

“All in the interests of good government, Assemblyman.”

He frowned, exchanged another look with Dobbs. Dobbs ate another candy and made a lateral move with his eyes- some kind of signal. I began to wonder about their relationship. Who was the parent.

Massengil said, “Well, no sense shilly-shallying. Obviously, this is about the tragedy at the school. It’s been some couple of days, hasn’t it, Doctor?”

“Yes, it has, Assemblyman.”

“Now we know you’ve been working with those kids. Which is fine, as it stands, absolutely fine.” A smile that looked as if it hurt. “Now, exactly how did you get involved?”

“The police asked me to get involved.”

“The police.” Another smile. Photo-opportunity caliber. I put a black frame around it. “I see, I see. Wasn’t aware the police did that kind of thing.”

“What kind of thing is that, Assemblyman?”

“Referring to specialists. Getting involved in social welfare issues. Are you on some kind of official police referral list?”

“No. One of the detectives is a friend of mine. I’ve worked with traumatized children before. He thought-”

“One of the detectives,” said Massengil. “I’m a great friend of the police, you know. Best friend they have in Sacramento, in fact. Crime bill needs pushing, I’m the first one the police chief comes to. County sheriff too.”

He turned to Dobbs, was prompted again by a small nod. “So. A detective referred you. Which detective might that be?”

“Detective Sturgis. Milo Sturgis. He’s the new D-Three- the new supervising detective at Westside Robbery-Homicide.”

“Sturgis,” he said, contemplative. “Ah, yes, the big, heavy fellow with the bad skin. They didn’t let him in when they conducted the interrogation.” Throat clear. Another exchange of glances. Pause. “He’s homasexual, I’m told, though you wouldn’t know it to look at him.”

He waited for an explanation. When I offered none, Dobbs made a small, satisfied sound, as if I’d behaved predictably.

“Well,” said Massengil, “is he?”

“Is he what?”

“Homasexual.”

“Assemblyman, I don’t think Detective Sturgis’ sex life is-”

“No need to shilly-shally. Sturgis’ sex life is common knowledge in the Police Department. Quite a bit of resentment, too- colleague-wise- regarding his promotion. His being in the Department in the first place, what with all the diseases and related hazards.”

My nails were digging into the arms of my chair. “Is there anything else, Assemblyman? I’ve got to be getting over to the school.”

“Ah, the school. How’s it going with those youngsters?”

“Fine.”

“That’s good.” He leaned forward, put his hands on the desk, fingers blunt and splayed, yellow-nailed. “Let me ask you this point-blank. You one too?”

“One what?”

“Homasexual.”

“Assemblyman, I don’t-”

“The thing is, Doctor, everything’s a real mess, societally speaking. I think we can all agree on that, right? My responsibility is to make sure things don’t get any messier than they’ve already gotten. It’s a crazy world we’re living in- punks shooting at elected public servants, big government forcing alternative life-styles down people’s throats, moving children around like truck produce. Pushing ivory tower theories not backed up by real life experiences. Making no one happy at either end- not the people or the youngsters. You, being in your line of work, should know all about that, though I’ve got to tell you it seems to me more often than not that people in your line of work forget all about reality, push for this’n that, quick fix here, quick fix there. Causing more erosion.”

He picked up the bell jar, caressed it, said, “Erosion. That’s an important word- the soil’s got a lot to teach us. ’Cause when you boil it all down, we’re talking erosion of standards. Boundaries. Gradual but severely deleterious, just like it is when the soil erodes. Everything boils down to that. Preservation or erosion- what stays; what goes. This is my district, son, my responsibility. For close to thirty years it’s been my responsibility. I fly up and down between here and Sacramento three times a week, using airplanes the way other people use cars, because this world we live in’s a big one, this district is the part of that world that’s my responsibility, and I’ve got to cover it, know what’s going on in terms of every part of it. And when I see changes I don’t like-erosion- I step in.”

He paused for dramatic effect, a dime-store Cicero.

Dobbs said, “Sam-”

“Hold on a minute, Lance. I want the doctor here to know… where I’m coming from.” Another big smile. “How’s that for your contemporary lingo? Where I’m coming from. And where I’m coming from is a posture of professional responsibility for my district, wanting… needing to know if standards are being compromised, the boundaries loosened up any further. Wanting to know exactly who’s in charge.”

“In charge of what?”

“Systems. Systems of influence. Educational systems. Psychiatric treatment systems. Anything that influences impressionable young minds.”

Dobbs smiled and said, “Dr. Delaware, given what the children have been through, we obviously need to make sure they’re being given optimal treatment.”

“We?”

“We,” said Massengil. “My team.”

“Dr. Dobbs is part of your team?”

Another flash of ocular Morse code.

“He’s on the team,” said Massengil, boasting but sounding oddly defensive. “Along with lots of other good people.”

Dobbs said, “I’ve worked extensively with the Assemblyman’s staff- management seminars.”

“You bet,” said Massengil, too quickly. “Top-notch stuff.” He ticked off on his fingers. “Foundations of Character. Pathways to Leadership. Spiritual Growth in Service of the Soul.”

Dobbs smiled, but seemed wary, a drama coach watching the performance of an unreliable ingenue.

Massengil said, “We’ve all of us benefited from Dr. Dobbs’s input- the whole staff has. So you see, we’re not opposed to your line of work per se, as far as it goes. But we just need to know who’s doing it. Lance is someone we know and trust, because he understands the real world, the realities of the district. Real life and its spiritual underpinnings. That’s why he was asked to treat those kids after the earthquake, why he’s exceptionally qualified to treat these youngsters.” Wide smile. “Now, all of a sudden you’re involved, which is fine as far as it’s gone- we appreciate your enthusiasm and we thank you kindly. But we don’t know who you are, what your background is.”

I gave him my academic credentials, using the long form.

He half-listened and stroked the bell jar. “Sounds fine, sir. But you still haven’t answered the main, important question.”

I said, “Am I gay? No, I’m not. But Detective Sturgis is my friend- do you think I’m in danger of catching it?”

The creases around his eyes tightened into paper cuts and his fingers curled on the desk top. Clawing the glass, whitening the horny nails. But he kept smiling, showed those brown teeth. “No telling what can be caught nowadays, right? Bottom line, we’re all after the same thing, aren’t we?”

“What’s that?”

“Cleaning up the mess. Doing right by those youngsters. Seeing to it that they become good citizens. I’m sure you want that just as much as we do, now don’t you, Doctor?”

“Right now,” I said, “I’m less interested in teaching them civics than in helping them sleep through the night.”

His smile faded.

Dobbs said, “All Assemblyman Massengil is saying is that values are crucial when working with these children- any children. Maintaining an order.”