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don’t want to be critical of you, but you need to think about the way you treat the people who hire us. We work for them.”
    “Well, hell,” Snow said. “Alright, I guess you’re right. I’ll try to be a better person from now on.”
    Alice laughed. “Well, don’t strain yourself.”
    Snow chuckled. “Okay. What about phone records? I think we need to get a copy of Laura’s recent cell phone activity. How do we do that?”
    “Jack already has it. He started a crude investigation of his own before he decided to hire us. He called her service provider and told them she’d been murdered and he needed the information.”
    “And they gave it to him, no questions asked? I thought you needed something signed by a judge these days.”
    “He’s the next of kin. She’s dead. He gave them her full name, date of birth, social security number, address, city of birth. So they gave it to him. He said he’d e-mail the phone records to me when he gets back to his room.”
    “You think that’s where he is right now?” Snow said.
    Alice straightened in her seat and stared out through the windshield. “God only knows.”
    Silence filled the inside of the car, the two of them lost in their own thoughts.
    Finally, Alice spoke.
    “Jim, there’s something I need to ask you.”
    “What’s that?”
    “Are we going to sit here in this driveway all night?”
    “Oh, yeah,” Snow mumbled. “I knew there was something I was forgetting.” He shifted into reverse and backed onto the street.

The next morning, after a ten-mile run, a shower, soft-boiled eggs, toast, and coffee, Snow picked up his phone to call the office.
    Alice picked up on the first ring. “It’s almost nine. What are you still doing at home?”
    “Good morning, sweetheart,” Snow said. “I love you too.”
    “Seriously.”
    “Seriously, this was my morning for LSD. Two cups of coffee, and I still haven’t recovered from it.”
    “What does that stand for?”
    “Long slow distance,” he said, sipping coffee.
    “How many miles?”
    “Ten.”
    “Very good. So, you’re really going to do it this year?”
    “Just the half marathon. Not the full.”
    “That’s still impressive. You’re my hero. How long until you get here—for work?”
    “It might be a little longer before I can leave. I have some things I need to do around here before I leave.”
    “Like what?”
    “Picking out my attire for the day. I’m torn between the gray sharkskin suit with the eel-skin oxfords, or the Italian wool with the alligator loafers.”
    She laughed. “Sharkskin suits went out with plaid bell-bottoms. The only suit you own is the black one you bought from J. C. Penney for your mother’s funeral.”
    Snow took another sip of coffee. “I can’t wear that. If I spill my lunch on it and somebody dies, I’ll be in a bind.”
    “I don’t care what you wear, Jim, as long as it’s not a T-shirt, or your pajamas, or Bermuda shorts. What time do you think you’ll get here?”
    “An hour. Maybe a little more. Did you have a chance to look at Laura’s cell phone records?”
    “I did, and I found something interesting.”
    “Which is?”
    “A lot of calls to her dentist’s cell phone. More than thirty in the two weeks leading up to Laura’s death. I called the number on the statement and talked to him. He’s the one who supplied the dental X-rays to the crime lab.”
    “That makes sense, since he was her dentist.”
    “Thirty phone calls in two weeks,” Alice declared. “I wonder what else he was to her?”
    “I’m thinking of a bad joke,” Snow said.
    “Drill, baby, drill?”
    “You read my mind.”
    “Jim, it doesn’t take a psychic to figure that one out. Anyway, the dentist’s name is Andrew Tully, and he says he’ll be home all day. I told him we’d probably stop by in the afternoon. Does that fit your schedule?”
    “Perfect. I’ll see you in a bit.”
    Snow disconnected the call and dialed another number. He didn’t expect Leon