Twenty-Six
“WHAT DO WE DO NOW, Helen?”
She’s already put the pink-tipped cotton swab in an evidence bag and labeled it with her initials, date, and time. “That, Tom, is a good question.” She sits on her haunches and looks around. Then her gaze settles on me.
“I have to report it.”
I nod. “Of course you do. I understand. You’ll get in trouble.”
“No,” she says, shaking her head, “not if this works. But I’ll be asking a friend to take a chance on getting in trouble himself.”
She pulls out her phone and dials, putting it on speaker so I can hear. “Helen?” Dan says on the third ring.
“Can you talk?”
“Hold on, let me call you back,” Dan says then hangs up. About a minute later, he calls back.
“OK, we can talk,” Dan says in a low voice. From the echo, he must be in the men’s room.
“I’ll
