James looked at me carefully. That depends on what we find. If your name is already on it, our position is strong. If it isn’t, or if Dererick’s name has been added, then we’re in a more complex situation. But purchase documentation can be powerful independent evidence. Let’s get that first. I left his office at 11:15.
By 11:45, I was pushing open the glass door of Garfield’s pharmacy. Mrs. Garfield, Ununice, though I had never called her that, was behind the counter sorting a delivery of vitamins. She was a roundfaced woman in her late60s with bif focals on a beaded chain and a memory that I had always trusted more than most people’s entire personalities.
She looked up when I came in and her expression shifted immediately from professional welcome to something more personal. Margaret, she said, I’ve been thinking about you. That stopped me. You have? I said, sit down, she said. Let me get Ronnie to watch the counter. We sat in the small back office that smelled of cardboard and old receipts.