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very convenient. But taking the easy road is giving you the most trouble.”
    The elevator doors opened and the two men stepped in. Ahmad pressed the button for their floor.
    â€œWell, I have to come up with someone in the next couple of weeks, or I rewrite the grant to get it extended,” Sid told him, accepting the advice but obviously disappointed. “Do you have any suggestions where I should be looking for subjects?”
    They stepped out at their floor.
    â€œAs a matter of fact, I do. One of my patients at the extended-care facility in Waterbury is a ward of the state. A Jane Doe with no known family to have an objection to what you’re going to do or what information you’re going to abstract.”
    â€œWhat kind of okay do we need to include her?”
    â€œJust the permission of the conservator, who is an attorney in Waterbury, I understand. I’ll get the name and phone number,” Ahmad offered. “In her case, I doubt there will be any objection. If anything, you can help them to identify her, and it would be a very good thing.”
    â€œWhen can I see her?” Sid asked, perking up.
    â€œYou can come with me tomorrow to the nursing facility. We’ll put in the call to the attorney’s office when we’re down there.”

9
    York, Pennsylvania
    M ark Shaw had a busier social schedule now than any time before going to Iraq. It had to be a plot.
    The next-door neighbors, who were always friendly with his family, have a cookout and he’s invited. The police chief’s wife throws a birthday party for their eight-year-old daughter…and he’s invited. York College’s Criminal Justice department is having a retirement party for one of the professors Mark had while he was at school there…and he’s invited. Lucille and Abel from the diner have some reasonably attractive female friend over for supper on Friday night…and he’s invited. And there had to be a dozen more.
    Between the people who knew him or his family, he had yet to go two days without being invited to one event or other. If things got any busier, he’d need to buy a calendar.
    Mark appreciated all the invitations he was getting. He knew why he was getting them, too. Some forty thousand people lived in York, and between the tourists and the college kids, the population could swell by an extra ten thousand. As a result, York had some big-city problems. That was why the police force needed nearly ahundred officers. Despite all of that, though, York still had small-town attitudes and values…and folks who cared about servicemen and women just back from overseas with no family around.
    Mark knew it was a plot, but not a sinister one. It just didn’t help him figure out what he wanted to do with his life.
    Thursday night, he was at another get-together. John Landis, a young police officer who was also the younger brother of Mark’s first partner on the force, was moving into a new apartment with his girlfriend. Mark had known John for a long time, so he and a couple of other guys had stopped in during the afternoon to help them move. Now everyone was staying for beer and pizza.
    The conversation at dinner turned to the politics of the department. Mark went into the kitchen to get another beer. A small TV on the counter was on and tuned to a local station with the volume turned down. As he raised the bottle to his lips, a picture flashed on the screen, stopping him dead. He knew that face.
    â€œWait!” he murmured as the news story moved on. “Come on. What was that about?”
    He searched on the counter for the remote to turn up the volume or change the channel.
    â€œEverything okay?” John asked, toting a handful of empties into the kitchen.
    â€œI just saw…somebody I knew on the news. But it passed on. Do you get another news station? Where’s the TV remote?”
    John reached under a phone book and handed him the remote. “Was