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likely. What do you think?” she asked, knowing what he really wanted to do was expound.
    â€œLoony. Smart loony though. Cased the buildings. I mean, you have to do something like that exactly right or you’re toast yourself. You know, the way things are today, I’d never go into women’s medicine if I were in medical school.”
    â€œYou mean OB/GYN?”
    He nodded. “All it takes is one mistake and everyone’s down your throat. Can you imagine the cost of insurance?”
    â€œYou’re right, but an OB/GYN usually has happy customers. There aren’t that many problems in pregnancy. I’d hate to be in oncology.”
    â€œGot a point there.” He paused, put one hand on his hip. “What do you think of abortion?”
    â€œThat it’s a woman’s decision.”
    â€œYou don’t think it’s taking a life?”
    â€œNo.” She held up her hand. “Mike, I can’t imagine anyone dancing in the street saying, ‘Hooray, I just terminated a pregnancy,’ but isn’t it better than just outright killing girl babies like they do in India and China?”
    â€œThat is pretty terrible.”
    â€œI read in the
Manchester Guardian
from March 2007—I saved the issue because it was so upsetting—that the rough guess is that in the last ten years, God knows how many million girls have been destroyed either in the womb or at birth.”
    His eyes popped. “God.”
    â€œIn some places in China the ratio of males to females is one hundred twenty-eight to one hundred. That spells disaster. It also points to mass violence, because most crimes are committed by males between the ages of fifteen and twenty-nine. Didn’t the governments of those countries think of that? And how will they find enough jobs for all those men? It’s a sure bet they won’t want to work in day care. They’re planting the seeds for their own overthrow, especially China.”
    â€œYou’ve made quite a study of it.”
    â€œOh, well, I was forced into it by Folly Steinhauser. When I designed her house last year, she peppered me with Planned Parenthood information plus everything else she could find.” Tazio shrugged. “At first I resented it, I’ll be honest, but then I actually became interested. Global warming is caused as much by overpopulation as by cars. I mean, who drives the cars? Who uses electricity, furnaces? If you have six billion people, you have more emissions. If you have 7.2 or 9 billion by the end of this century, what do you think will happen? And what about the water table?” She threw up her hands.
    â€œNever really thought of it that way.” Mike reached into his back pants pocket for his small notebook. “Funny, all those people breeding so easily, and Noddy and I never could. We’re still in the game,” he smiled, “but you know we don’t have but so much longer.” He flipped open his notebook. “All right…”
    A car drove up outside, and Carla emerged from her burnt-orange Range Rover. “Hello,” she called as she walked through the front door.
    â€œIn the kitchen,” Tazio called back, then under her breath said to Mike, “She said she was too upset to come.”
    Wearing lime-green driving loafers with tiny rubber pebbles on the soles, Carla silently walked into the kitchen. Her eyes were swollen. “There you are.” She turned to Mike. “What do you think?”
    â€œComing along. We have a problem here. You need a larger outtake for the stove you’re putting in.”
    â€œWhy?” Carla walked into the alcove where the stove would be located, looking up at the four-inch opening.
    â€œSix inches.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œThat’s the code for this type of stove. You could change the stove, of course.” He knew perfectly well she wouldn’t.
    â€œWhy didn’t you know this?” Carla turned