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already on its way to Marvin Street. The woman Ray had the fight with dispatched them as soon as she cooled down, but though she had noted down the correct address she got too steamed up to make a note of Ray’s number and was trying to reach him at home, where Dispatch thought he was.
    â€˜I don’t know why Myra went off on your guy like that, Jake,’ Ivan said, ‘except everybody’s uptight because they’re overworked and afraid of more job cuts.’
    â€˜Tell me about it,’ I said. ‘I’ve never known Ray to get crosswise of anybody that way before. But we’re taking a beating too – seems like we lose someone every week. Thanks, Ivan, I owe you a big one.’
    I told Ray his crew was coming, skipping most of the details about crossed signals because he still had the whole damn night to work. ‘What about the body?’ I asked him. ‘You find any ID on him?’
    â€˜Not a scrap. No records, no money, no watch. Surprised they left his shoestrings. I told Pokey he’d better get good fingerprints, they’re all we got.’
    â€˜Pokey’s there?’
    â€˜Come and gone. Soon as I told him about the mess upstairs, he came right away with the meat wagon and grabbed his corpse. He said no use letting the Department of Health decide it was toxic waste, it wasn’t anywhere near the meth operation and he wanted his crack at it first. So I had Andy take a bunch of pictures and he rolled it away. When I didn’t say anything, he said, “What? You think I shouldn’t have let him have it?”’
    â€˜It’s Pokey’s call, I guess. For all we know, the guy was just there to buy some pot. Let’s not pick a fight with the coroner, we don’t have time. Is your crew all there?’
    â€˜Yeah. Rosie’s in the garage getting all herbed up, taking samples. Andy’s in here shooting really dismal pictures, and Winnie and Clint are outside looking for trace evidence. They found eight casings in the garage. Nothing outside but grass, so far. What does BCA say?’
    â€˜We’re to call them and reinstate the order, as soon as the Health Department says the place is clean.’
    â€˜After which, there won’t be anything left here worth the trip from Saint Paul.’
    â€˜Good point. So we better hope for stellar performances from Pokey and my smart wife, who is going to go back to work on Monday and will probably have to win this ball game for us.’
    Trudy had put the baby to bed and was standing across from me at the island in the kitchen, peering into some of the sacks I’d brought in. She pulled a couple of used formula bottles out of one of the sacks and frowned at them. Ben, in the next room, let out the first whimpers of a baby getting ready to cry. Store-bought meals didn’t suit his digestion as well as the ones he’d been getting from Mama, so he often cried as much after meals as before them, behavior guaranteed to make new parents pull out their hair.
    I told Ray, ‘Talk to you later,’ and folded up the phone. Watching my wife carefully, I said, ‘I learned a new word since I saw you in town.’
    â€˜Oh?’ She was rereading the label on the formula can.
    â€˜Yes, I think it’s magic. Watch my lips.’ I pushed out my jaw and sternly said ‘ Sitz !’
    â€˜ Gesundheit !’ She stared at me, eyebrows forming a question.
    â€˜That’s funny,’ I said. ‘Every time Darrell says that, his dog sits down.’
    â€˜Ah,’ she said. ‘So that’s what you were doing at the crazy house. Watching Darrell and his K-9 dog.’
    â€˜Yes.’ Ben gave an exploratory wail, the first high note that warned of many more to come. ‘I really do want you to sit. Will you please? In the rocker, right here.’ I moved it closer to the island. ‘Then I’ll bring the big guy out—’
    â€˜Jake, there’s