“Oh, boy,” she said. “There’s a charming image for you.” She touched a finger to her lips. “Wonder what kink he’s having straightened.”

“Maybe it’s temper control, or relief of some kind of stress-related symptom like hypertension. Dobbs seemed accustomed to calming him down and Massengil obeyed him. As if they’d practiced together.”

“A minor league Eagleton,” she said, shaking her head. “Wouldn’t play too well with the good folks of Ocean Heights, would it?”

“Hence the seminar cover,” I said. “And extra payoffs to Dobbs for being discreet- like referrals after the earthquake. And the tapes. How much you want to bet Massengil’s office paid for them? For a minor investment Massengil’s buying the chance to come out of this whole thing smelling fragrant. He and Dobbs had no way of knowing I’d get there first- after Dobbs had already started talking to the press. The scandal potential is there. At the very least Massengil would look like a damn fool.”

She shook her head. “Same old story. You’d think I’d get used to it. I hope all of this hasn’t soured you too much.”

I realized that talking about it had leeched the anger out of my system. “Don’t worry. I’ve seen worse. Anyway, I’m here to work. How many kids showed up?”

“A few more than yesterday, but not nearly enough. A lot of the parents couldn’t be reached by phone during working hours. Carla and I will try again tonight.”

I noticed how tired she looked and said, “Nice to see you haven’t been soured.”

She examined a cuticle. “One does what one can.”

I said, “I see the school guard is gone.”

“Must mean we’re safe, huh?”

“You don’t feel safe?”

“Actually, I do. I truly believe Massengil brought things to a head. The worst is over.”

The look on her face didn’t jibe with her words. I said, “What is it, then?”

She opened a drawer, pulled out a manila envelope, and handed it to me.

Inside were three sheets of paper, one blue-ruled and torn from a spiral notebook, the others cheap white stationery, unmarked. The message on one of the white sheets had been typewritten on an old manual; the other was handwritten in very dark penciled block letters. The blue-ruled sheet was covered with bird-scratch red-ballpoint cursive.

Different hands, the same message:

SPICK LOVER!!! FUCK YOU MONGREL RACEMIXER BICHES!!!

YOUR DAY OF RECKON IS SOON. REPENT OR BURN WITH ALL NIGGER TYPES IN DAMN NIGGER HELL…

ILLEAGALS GO BACK TO BEANERLAND. NO MORE STEALING JOBS FROM AMERICAN WORKING PEOPLE… WHITE PEOPLES LIBERATION FRONT.

She said, “I used to get this kind of swill regularly, but it had stopped. Guess it brings back memories of how rough things were in the beginning.”

“Have you told the police?”

She nodded. “I called that detective from the terrorist squad- Frisk. He had me read all of it to him over the phone, said he’d send someone over to pick up the letters. But he didn’t sound too hurried- kind of bored, actually. Didn’t care that I’d gotten my fingerprints all over it or that Carla had thrown out the envelopes. I asked him about putting the guard back on duty, just for a while. The guy was no great shakes but better than nothing, right? Frisk said the guard had been supplied by the school district and it was out of his bailiwick, but that it really didn’t seem to be anything to worry about- the perpetrator had acted alone. I asked him what about copycats, and he said that was highly unlikely.”

“Did you tell him about the crossbearer?”

“Old Elijah? That’s how I think of him- crazy prophet, down from the hills. I mentioned it, but Frisk said there was nothing he could do unless the turkey actually broke a law or unless I went to court and got a restraining order. Incidentally, he showed up again this morning- Elijah. Shouting through the fence about hell and perdition. I went out to him and told him he’d done good work here- everyone had heard the word. Then I asked if I could read his Bible with him. He jumped on that, turned to something from Jeremiah, death and destruction of the Holy Temple. You should have seen the two of us, reciting out on the sidewalk. After we finished I told him he should check out Hollywood Boulevard- lots of needy spirits aching for salvation over there. He called me a woman of valor, blessed me, and marched away singing.”

When I stopped laughing. I said, “Crisis intervention. You’ve got the knack, Doctor.”

“Right. All the time I was stroking the moron’s ego, what I really wanted to do was give him a good kick in the pants.”

“Any word from Frisk on when the kids will be allowed back in the yard?”

“They’re allowed as of this morning. When he said there was nothing to worry about security-wise, I asked him about releasing the yard. He said, ‘Oh, yeah, sure, go ahead.’ He’d clearly forgotten about it- no big deal to him that we’ve had to keep two hundred kids cooped up. We are not talking paragon of sensitivity.”

I said, “Did he have anything more to say about the shooting?”

“Not a blessed thing. And I asked.”

“Did you tell him about Ferguson knowing the Burden girl?”

She nodded. “He said to have her phone him- that same bored tone. Doing me a great big favor. Old Esme called in sick, so I phoned her at home and delivered the message. While I had her on the line I asked her what she remembered about the girl. Didn’t turn out to be much: Holly was a loner, not very bright, tended to space out in class, had trouble learning. But she did have one nugget of gossip- the girl had a black boyfriend. Old Esme lowered her voice when she delivered that. As if I cared. As if it really mattered, now. She also said the father’s got a reputation for being a little strange. Works out of his house, some kind of inventor- no one’s really sure how he supports himself. Incidentally, I did paw through our old records and found nothing on her. Apparently all the records that old were brought downtown. I called downtown and they informed me a manual search was being made of her transcripts; anything to do with her was classified information, orders of the police.”

“A boyfriend,” I said.

“You think that’s significant?”

“Not that he was black. But if the relationship was relatively recent, he might be able to tell us something about Holly’s state of mind. Did Ferguson say anything else about him besides that he was black?”

“Just that. Capital B. When I didn’t comment on it, Esme started making flu noises and I hung up.”

“Somehow I sense she’s not your favorite person.”

“I’m sure it’s mutual. She’s a grind, biding her time until pension. I wouldn’t count on getting any insight from her on the Burden girl or anything else.”

I said, “Speaking of insight, has Ahlward or anyone else from Latch’s office called yet?”

“About what?”

“Vis-à-vis informational flow,” I said in a puffed-up voice. “We good folks were supposed to get anything we wanted as soon as the police gave the old green light, right?”

“Promises, promises.”

“Not that it matters, at this point. In fact it’s better he’s stayed away. The kids don’t need any more political involvement.”

“Neither do the adults,” she said.

The noon bell rang outside in the hallway, loud enough to vibrate the office walls. I got up. “Time to heal young minds.”

She walked me to the door. “In terms of reaching the parents, I don’t know if Friday gives us enough time. How about Monday?”

“Monday would be fine,” I said.

“Okay. We’ll keep calling. I want you to know I really appreciate all you’re doing.”

She looked beaten.

I felt like putting my arms around her. Instead I smiled and said, “Onward. Non illegitimati carborundum.”

“Ah, on top of everything else, the man’s a Latin scholar. Sorry, Prof. I took Spanish.”

I said, “Inscription on ancient Roman tomb: Don’t let the bastards wear you down.”