I moved her half-eaten grilled cheese out ofthe way and flipped one of the photocopies over in front of her.There were pens all over the place and I put one in her hand.“Don’t think. Just write: Martha, Josef, their children’s names,where they moved to…”
Agatha seemed dubious at first, but itworked. Once she’d freed up her mind, the information poured outeasily. We had a town to start from and children’s names to workwith.
“Perfect,” I said, grabbing one of her fivemillion phones. She had at least two in every room, so she wouldn’thave to go far to pick up. Not that anybody ever called her.
“You’re not phoning long distance, Ihope.”
“Think of it this way,” I said. “It’scheaper to spend a few bucks on long distance than pay out yourlife savings to a blackmailer.”
She grumbled, of cours
