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wondered aloud how much the apartment she’d mentioned would cost to rent these days. After a very slow start, this led to discussing the area semi-seriously from a residential point of view, and back toward life in general, and finally to the fact that it was approaching time for us to get ready for work.
    “You’ll be changing your clothes, I take it.”
    Kristina’s skin is very pale, and when she flushes you notice it. “There’s no law that says I have to wear black jeans and a rock chick shirt all the time.”
    “I know that.” I didn’t mention I’d noticed she’d been drinking tea at the café , which she never does at home. She would reasonably have said there was no law against her drinking tea, either. “I just thought maybe I could help. With the changing process.”
    She was surprised into a reluctant laugh. “I’m not sure you deserve that honor.”
    “Perhaps. It’s just I’ve heard that skirts can be challenging. For those unaccustomed to their ways.”
    “Is that right?”
    “I’m just saying. If you need a hand when we get home, I’m there for you.” I left a beat. “Of course, if we were living here , we’d be home already.”
    She smiled and looked away. “It’s not so far,” she said. “I’ll race you.”
    We got slammed that evening, the restaurant packed out the entire night. This wasn’t enough to distract me from feeling like an ass over the discussion with Catherine Warren. So she’d rubbed me up the wrong way. It couldn’t have been easy to talk about her concerns, and I hadn’t provided a considerate audience.
    When I took a cigarette break midevening I called an old friend on the other side of the country. Bill Raines answered promptly.
    “Well, hey,” he said. “How’s tricks, pizza boy? Still keeping it thin and crispy?”
    “Always,” I said, leaning back against the wall to watch people ambling the sidewalk, looking for the cheapest way to feel like shit tomorrow. “How about you? Still lying through your teeth in pursuit of clients’ claims, however mercenary and indeed fictitious they may be?”
    “It’s how I roll. S’up in your so-called life?”
    “Wanted to pick your brain.”
    “Shoot.”
    I gave him the bones of Catherine’s story. He listened without interrupting until I was done.
    “I don’t see you selling the movie rights,” he said. “As jeopardy goes, it’s kind of blah, right? Plus, what does she think you can do about it?”
    “I’m not sure,” I said, realizing that the more I thought about it, the less I understood why the meeting had even taken place. “Just hoping for some advice, I guess. I didn’t have any. So I’m trying you.”
    “I’m sure you haven’t forgotten everything you knew about the law, John. The cops need probable cause. The sense you’re being followed isn’t enough, and an attorney’s going to need a lot more for a restraining order—like knowing who the alleged perp is . You can’t get those things filed ‘To Whom It May Concern.’ ”
    “The cops won’t help in the meantime?”
    “I’m not saying that. These days they take this stuff pretty seriously. Thousands of people every year believe they’re receiving unwelcome attention, and most women who get murdered by ex-partners are stalked by them first. Your friend’s not going to get a ‘Hush, girlie; run along,’ but you’ll require actual evidence before they can do more than advise buying some Mace. Doesn’t sound like she has any.”
    “Nothing like.”
    “Sensing you’re not her biggest fan, either.”
    “Christ. Is it that obvious?”
    “You’ve always been a heart-on-the-sleeve kind of guy, John. Least, I assumed it was your heart, though it was kind of shriveled. Could have been an unusually large raisin.”
    I asked if he was intending to be in the city any day soon. “If I am,” he said. “I’ll warn you. Give you plenty time to get out of town. We done here?”
    “Always a pleasure, Bill.”
    “Liar.”
    As