“Hey!” He walked around his desk and greeted me with an awkward hug. Grady had never stood for me before, much less come around his desk. His declaration of sorts from the party lingered in the air between us.

I pecked him awkwardly on the cheek and then quickly sat on the small couch in front of the window.

“How are you?” His brown eyes were earnest, and strangely it made me sad. As much as I appreciated how Grady apparently felt about me, I longed for normalcy again, for the days of yore when he would simply mock me about my flop-sweat and head off into the night to date some twenty-year-old.

“I’m okay.” I paused. Did I need to deal, somehow, with what he’d said Saturday night? “Remember on Saturday when you said you’d do anything you could to help me get through this?”

“Yeah. You going to give me my car back?”

I reached into my pocket and put his key on his desk. “It’s in the garage. Fourth floor.”

He looked at the key, then me. “Need anything else?”

I put Forester’s file on his desk. “Help me read these records?”

He picked up the records and leafed through them. “Don Loman,” he said. “I know him. I’ve used him as an expert on a few cases. What do you want to know from these records?”

“The autopsy says Forester had a myocardial infarction, but Forester had told me he’d had a number of tests recently and that he had passed with flying colors. I guess I’m just trying to find out if these records say something different.”

“Give me a second.” Grady pushed his chair back, crossed a leg and started perusing the file.

I watched him. I liked how his concentration shifted so intently into work mode, liked how he flipped from one record to another and back again, his eyes flicking easily over the medical hieroglyphics that would have boggled me. I felt a rush of affection for him then, for someone who truly liked me. And was still in town.

Grady raised his eyes, and they fastened on mine. “You’re staring.”

“Sorry. Do what you have to do. I’ll just be over here.” I stood up and lifted a Code of Civil Procedure from his shelf.

“Exciting reading,” he said.

“The provision on 619 motions is particularly interesting.”

Grady went back to flipping through the records. Ten minutes later, he said, “Well, it looks like Forester’s cardiovascular health had improved greatly since he had that previous heart attack. At that time, they did an angiogram and a cardiac cath and believed he didn’t need surgery. He was a good patient. He took all the meds he was supposed to. He changed his diet and, just a few weeks ago, he had a battery of tests, all of which were normal.”

“So then how did he die of a heart attack?”

“Once the heart is weakened, you’re always at risk.”

“I wonder what Loman thinks about his death.”

“We can call him and find out.”

“We can?” I slid back into a chair across from Grady. “I thought you couldn’t talk to doctors without a subpoena.”

“You’re allowed if you’re representing the patient or the estate, which the firm does.”

Grady flipped through a Rolodex and dialed his phone. “Hi, Gwen,” he said. “Is Dr. Loman around?” A pause. “I’ve got a new case I want him to look at.”

He gave me a thumbs-up. “These guys charge six hundred an hour to review records. They always get on the phone for a new case. I’ll put him on speaker.”

A minute later, a deep voice came through the speaker. “Morning, Grady.”

“Good morning, Dr. Loman. I want to talk to you about a new case, but I have a few questions first. About Forester Pickett. I’ve got another attorney here with me. Izzy McNeil. She was Mr. Pickett’s lead attorney.”

He had that right. I was the lead attorney. Previously. No longer.

“My condolences,” Dr. Loman said. “I’m sad as hell about Forester.”

“The firm is representing the estate, and we were wondering if we could ask you a couple questions about your treatment of him.”

Dr. Loman didn’t say anything for a few seconds. “Do I need to get separate counsel for this? Any chance I’m going to get sued here?”

Grady looked at me.

I shook my head and spoke up. “No, Doctor, it doesn’t appear there will be any suit in this case whatsoever. In fact, everyone is very anxious to close the estate and move on. We just have a few questions.”

“I’ve got a cabbage in forty minutes, but if you can make it quick, go ahead.”

Cabbage? I gave Grady an inquisitive glance.

“Coronary artery bypass graft,” he said.

I nodded. “We’ll be brief, Dr. Loman. You signed the death certificate, is that right?”

“Yes, I got called to the E.R. Forester was already gone. I examined him, reviewed the EMT records and talked to one of the EMTs. Classic presentation of an MI, myocardial infarction.”

“Did you order a tox screen as part of the autopsy?” Grady asked.

“No need,” Dr. Loman said. “Common things happen in common ways. This was an MI.”

“Why was there a risk of repeat heart attack in a patient like Forester who’d taken such good care of himself?”

“Well, there’s always a risk. Even if you’re on anticoagulants, like Forester was. Any number of things can increase that risk-depression, stress, other medications.”

“Was Forester on any meds that could have increased the risk of a heart attack?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Were you aware he saw a Chinese doctor who prescribed herbs?”

“Yes, he told me about that when he first saw her. In fact, there should be a notation in my chart about that. She provided a list of the herbs she mixed for him, and I didn’t believe there was any contraindication for him taking them. To be honest, I didn’t think there was any real upside either, but I’m not an integrated-medicine specialist.”

“Could the anticoagulants that Forester was taking have in any way caused his heart attack?” Grady asked.

“No, they shouldn’t. They can cause stroke, if not taken properly, but they should have only helped prevent an attack.”

“So there’s nothing really you can point to that caused his recent attack?” Grady asked.

“I wish there was. As I always say when I testify, medicine is not an exact science. You lawyers just try to make it one. So what’s this new case you have for me?”

“You know what, Doctor?” Grady said. “I have to call you right back. I thought I had the file in front of me and I don’t.”

Grady and I thanked the doctor and hung up.

“Can you find the notation he made about Forester’s herbs?” I asked.

Grady flipped through the medical records again, quicker this time, and found an entry in the office notes. “Here it is.” He turned the records around to face me.

Patient seeing Dr. Song Li for Chinese holistic care. Dr. Li prescribed patient herbal tonic “ Move Mountains.”

I looked up at Grady. “ Move Mountains? What’s that?”

He shrugged.

The herbs in the tonic were also listed, things like, astragalus root, schisandra fruit and dendrobium herb.

“These mean anything to you?” I asked Grady.

“Nah.”

Finally, the medical record listed an address and phone number for Dr. Li. I took a pen off Grady’s desk and a scrap of paper and copied the herbs and the contact information. “Can we get on the Web for a second and see if there’s anything there about this doctor?”

Grady turned toward his computer and ran the mouse over the pad. He went to Google and typed in “Dr. Song Li,” then “Dr. Li” then “Dr. Li Chicago” and a host of other searches. None of the results that came up were for the right Dr. Li.

“Where in the heck did Forester find this lady?” Grady muttered.

“He said he was recommended by a friend after his heart surgery. He was scared of dying, and he was ready to try anything. He’s been seeing her for a while.”

I gathered up the records. I wanted to call Mayburn with all the info.

“Thanks for your help,” I said to Grady.