Merritt was tall. As she passed by me I realized that although she was only a couple of inches shorter than me, as long as her legs were, they were still way too short for the rest of her body. She had broad swimmer’s shoulders and small, defined breasts, but her hips and buttocks had just started to round. I was reminded of watching puppies grow into their paws, and decided that if Merritt were to grow into that extended torso, she would top out at six-two, easy.

The toilet flushed and water splashed into the sink. Merritt stepped back out of the bathroom and chanced a quick glance my way. She shuffled a step forward as I took one more back. Behind her I could see Cozy Maitlin pointing at his new client’s back and then at his watch.

She settled onto the bed. I pulled forward on the chair.

“Merritt, there’s something I need to tell you. It’s very important. Could you please turn off the television for a minute?”

I immediately recognized that I had shocked her unnecessarily. I watched panic roll into her eyes and settle into her expression. She was expecting bad news about her sister.

Her lips, parted at rest, closed into a tight line. She swallowed.

I waited one second and said, “No, it’s not about your sister.”

She raised her chin and seemed to force a deep exhale. Her shoulders dropped. But she still didn’t relax. I wished right then that I’d paid more attention when people talked about body language during graduate school.

“The TV? Please.”

She pecked a button that muted the sound but left the picture intact. It was a concession on her part and it was good enough.

“Your mother called me to your house tonight, a couple of hours ago. Your stepdad is in Denver with your sister and she didn’t want to upset them. She wanted me to come over because…she found a plastic storage case under your bed-the one with the bloody clothes and shoes in it-and she didn’t know what to do. She wanted someone else to see it.”

I almost laughed at the exasperated face that Merritt made in response to my grave announcement.

I was left to guess what it meant and I guessed that she was aggravated that her mother had been snooping in her room. The discovery of the bloody clothes was secondary or irrelevant to her.

“There’s more, Merritt. After I got there, I went into your bathroom looking for more blood. I discovered the gun that was in the pile of towels by the sink.”

She opened her mouth and wrinkled up her nose, which was tiny and upturned, the end barely the size of the knuckle on my pinky, and made a quizzical cluck from the back of her throat as if to say, “What? You found what?”

I noted her surprise. “Your mom and I talked about what to do. Your Uncle Sam came over-your mom called him.”

Her mouth opened farther and her eyes were as wide as I’d yet seen them.

I said, “It was my idea, calling Sam-your uncle.”

She rolled her eyes. Duh.

“Sam took a look at your room, at the clothes, and at the gun. He made a couple of calls to some forensic people at the police department. The serial number on the gun in the bathroom matches one that is missing from the scene of a murder that took place late last week in Boulder. Now everyone is afraid that you might be implicated somehow.”

Merritt’s face grew sad. I was perplexed as she tried to force a small grin, but when she did the corners of her mouth turned down instead. It was the closest thing I’d seen to a smile from her.

“The police are at your house right now, examining the bloody clothes and the gun, and…looking around for other evidence. Your Uncle Sam and your mother and I all thought that…because of what was found, that you might be in trouble and that you might be needing a lawyer. The one who Sam wanted for you, the best one in town, is here with me, out in the hall, and he would very much like to meet you. His name is Cozier Maitlin. I’m sure it would be fine with him if you call him Cozy.”

Merritt leaned forward a little so that she could see the tall man standing in the corridor. She looked at him warily, as she might examine the newest kid who had arrived in class. With the index finger of her left hand she pushed the button that lowered the bed flat and slowly reclined from his view. As soon as the bed came to rest at horizontal, she rolled away from me as well, facing the window and the wall. I could see the small quivers of stifled cries rumbling through the long, lean muscles on her back.

“Merritt, we all want to help you any way we can.”

I thought I heard a sob. “I’m going to invite Mr. Maitlin in unless you tell me not to. He’s hoping you will talk to him about all this. He’ll need your assistance, Merritt, to make sense of everything.”

She didn’t protest. I stood and walked to the door and said, “Come on in, Cozy.”

Maitlin walked in and walked over to the bed. I said, “Merritt Strait, this is Cozier Maitlin.”

Cozy dropped to a squat beside the bed and lowered his voice to an octave level I had never heard from him before. “Hello, Merritt, I’m an attorney. It appears that you may be in some serious trouble with the police whether you have done anything or not. And I would like to help.”

Merritt replied with a sob.

“Alan, Dr. Gregory, warned me that you haven’t been saying much the last few days. But this is serious. I hope you’ll reconsider, at least with me.”

Cozy and I both watched her for signs that she was even hearing him. If Merritt was reconsidering anything, it wasn’t readily apparent to me.

“Okay. As ironic as this may sound, one of the things I was going to advise you is that it’s important that you not speak to anyone but your lawyer and your doctors. It’s very likely that the police will pay you a visit tonight. Unless you object, I will notify them now, right away, that you have chosen not to answer their questions. Fortunately, it appears that concurring with my advice about staying silent will be easy for you.

“The next thing I need to let you know is about the possibility that you will either be arrested or detained for questioning in the death of a man named Edward Robilio. He’s a doctor.”

He waited for her to react to the name of the deceased. She didn’t. The name either didn’t mean anything to her, or she already knew it.

“Should that occur, I hope that the police will provide me with the courtesy of some advance warning so that I can arrange for someone to accompany you through the process of being booked, but they are not required to do so.

“With your doctors’ consent, you may be removed temporarily from the hospital by the police. You must remember the entire time that you have the right to remain silent. And, as I’ve made clear, I would prefer that you exercise that right. Would you like me to tell you what to expect in the event that you are forced to go through this alone?”

Merritt was as still as a statue.

Her silence in response to questions provided the questioner an awful lot of latitude. Cozy told her what was likely to happen. He asked, “Is it all right with you if Dr. Gregory and I discuss your situation?”

She surprised me by nodding, then reached down with one long arm and tugged the scratchy hospital sheets and thin hospital blanket up past her waist.

I said, “Merritt, your mother will be here soon. As soon as she is done with the police, I imagine. She is very worried about you. Would you like me to stay until she arrives?” I knew I should give her a default option. “I’m going to take no response from you to mean yes, that you would like me to stay with you.”

Without facing us or otherwise moving, she shook her head in two long arcs.

I was being dismissed. Without considering the consequences, I reached out and touched her lightly on the biceps of her left arm. I said, “Good night, I’ll be back to see you tomorrow.”

Cozy said, “Good night, Merritt. We’ll do everything we can for you.”