"There's something not right in this picture," Craig said. "I'm questioning the men's competence and considering replacing him, and you both think we should let him decide whether or not to do an autopsy."

"We can tell him Jordan Stanhope's story at the same time," Alexis said, ignoring Craig.

"Can we get him on the phone and discuss it with him tonight?" Jack asked. "The decision about whether or not to do the autopsy really cannot wait. Even if it's given a green light, I can't be certain it will happen. There are too many variables and not a lot of time."

"We can do better than call him," Alexis said. "He lives just around the corner."

"Fine," Craig said, throwing up his hands. He didn't feel strongly enough about it to overrule both Alexis and Jack. "But I'm not going to be the one to call."

"I don't mind calling," Alexis said. She got up and went over to the desk.

"You seem to be feeling better," Jack said to Craig while Alexis was using the phone.

"It's up and down," Craig said. "One minute I'm depressed and the next minute hopeful that truth will win out. It's been that way since this mess started back in October. Yet today had to be one of the worst days, hearing Bill Tardoff testify against me. I've always been friendly with the man. I really don't understand it."

"Is he a good doctor?"

Craig glared at Jack before saying, "Ask me that in a couple of days. At the moment, I'd be giving you an emotional response. Right now, I'd like to kill the guy."

"I understand," Jack said, and he did. "What about Dr. Noelle Everette? Does she have a good reputation?"

"With me or the hospital community?"

"Both."

"Like with Bill, my feelings changed after this malpractice suit. Before I thought she was okay, not great but okay, and I referred to her on occasion. After the suit, I'm as mad at her as I am at Bill. As far as her general reputation is concerned, it's fine. She's well liked although not so dedicated as most."

"Why do you say that?"

"She only works half-time officially, although it's more like three-quarters time. Her excuse is her family, which is nonsense. I mean, we all have families."

Jack nodded as if he agreed, but he didn't. He thought Craig should have given Noelle's work ethic a try. He probably would have been happier and a far better husband and father.

"The reason I asked about Noelle Everette," Jack said after a pause, "is because she said something interesting today. She said some of the old-fashioned physicians, a group in which she included herself, were angry about you concierge doctors. Does that surprise you?"

"Not really. I think they might be jealous. Not everybody can switch to a retainer practice. It depends a lot on their patient base."

"You mean whether the patient base is wealthy or not."

"That's a big part of it," Craig admitted. "Concierge practice is an enviable lifestyle compared with the mess standard practice is being put in. I'm making more money in a lot less time."

"What happened to your patients from your old practice who couldn't come up with the retainer fee?"

"They were referred to other people's standard practice."

"So they were in a sense abandoned."

"No, not at all. We spent a lot of time giving them names and numbers of other doctors."

To Jack it sounded very much like abandonment, but he didn't argue. Instead, he said, "So you see the kind of anger Noelle was talking about as stemming from envy."

"I can't think of any other reason."

Jack could think of a number, including the concept of professionalism Noelle had mentioned, but Jack wasn't interested in a debate. It was the malpractice case he was most interested in, so he asked, "Was Patience Stanhope an old patient of yours from your old practice?"

"No. She was a patient of the physician who started the concierge practice that I'm now essentially running. He's in Florida and not in the best of health."

"So in a sense you inherited her?"

"In a sense."

Alexis came back to the table. " Randolph is coming right over. He's interested in the autopsy idea but has reservations, including its admissibility, like I feared."

Jack nodded, but he was more interested in his conversation with Craig, and he had been debating how to word his next question. "Craig, remember this morning when I mentioned the idea of smothering or strangulation in relation to Patience Stanhope, which I later realized was ridiculous, since she died of a heart attack?"

"How could I forget?"

"It's an example of how medical examiners like me think. I mean, I wasn't making any allegations of any sort. I was kind of thinking out loud, trying to relate central cyanosis to the rest of the facts. In retrospect, you understand, don't you? At the time, you were bothered by the suggestion."

"I understand, but I'm not myself these days for obvious reasons. I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize. I'm bringing it up only because I want to ask you a question which occurred to me when Noelle Everette made her comment about a group of old-fashioned doctors being angry about concierge doctors. It's a question you might think outlandish the same way you responded to the mentioning of strangulation and smothering this morning."

"You've piqued my curiosity. Ask your question."

"Can you think of any remotely possible way you could have been set up by Patience Stanhope's death? What I'm suggesting is that someone might have seen her passing as a way to put concierge medicine in a bad light. Does this idea resonate at all, or am I once again somewhere beyond the orbit of Pluto?"

A small smile appeared at the corners of Craig's mouth and slowly spread inward until he laughed and shook his head in wonderment. "What you lack in rationality, you certainly make up for in creativity."

"Remember, it is a rhetorical question. I don't expect an answer; just tuck it away in the archives of your brain and see if it resonates with any other facts you've not told anyone."

"Are you suggesting some kind of conspiracy?" Alexis asked. She was as taken aback as Craig.

"Conspiracy implies more than one," Jack said. "Like you asked me to do on the phone, I'm thinking out of the box."

"That's way out of the box," Craig said.

The doorbell precluded any more talk of malevolent medical machinations, which was how Craig referred to Jack's idea as Alexis went to the door. When Alexis returned with Randolph Bingham in tow, Jack and Craig were chuckling at other clever names Craig was able to conjure up. Alexis was pleasantly surprised. Craig was showing more normal behavior than he had in months, which was even more unusual, considering the stressful day in court.

Jack was reintroduced to Randolph. The first time had been outside the courtroom that morning before the trial had recommenced. There hadn't been much time, and Alexis, who'd done the introducing, merely said that Jack was her brother, whereas now she included details of Jack's professional qualifications.

Randolph didn't say anything during Alexis's monologue, although he nodded a few times at key points. "I'm pleased to make your acquaintance again," he said when Alexis concluded.

"Likewise," Jack said. He felt there was an unease about the situation. Randolph was irrepressibly staid. Although he'd changed from his meticulously tailored courtroom suit, his idea of relaxed wear was a heavily starched, freshly pressed, long-sleeved white oxford shirt, pleated summer-weight wool pants with a knifelike crease, and a summer-weight cashmere sweater. As further evidence of his primness, he appeared to have shaved, in contrast to Jack and Craig, who both had the expected evening stubble, and his silver hair was as perfectly styled as it had been in court.

"Should we sit here at the table or go into the living room?" Alexis asked as the host.