Gaits of Heaven

something about a plea for help?”
    Rita almost choked, but then she smiled. “Yes, what about that? That’s when someone else’s office is entered. When it’s mine, my attitude does a volte-face.”
    Laughter relieved the tension. We began to eat, and over dinner, we heard the details, of which there were few. Despite the recent entering of the nearby therapy building, the last therapist to leave Rita’s building on the previous night couldn’t remember whether he had locked the outer door, and he was sure that he hadn’t set the alarm. It had a password that he could never remember, and he hadn’t wanted to lock himself out in case he’d forgotten something.
    “I’ve done the same thing myself,” Rita admitted. “But not this week.”
    “You did change the passwords on your computer,” Caprice said. “We went over that. No names of pets. Nothing in the dictionary. Not your phone number. Combine letters and numerals.”
    “Yes,” said Rita. “But my Rolodex was there.”
    “How private is that?” Steve asked. “It isn’t, is it?”
    “No. And it has the names of colleagues, too. Friends. There’s nothing to identify people as patients.”
    “What did the police say?” I asked.
    “Not much. They dusted for prints. They told us to lock the doors and set the alarm. That was about it. I didn’t have the sense that we were being dismissed, really, but from their point of view, it wasn’t a major crime. Nothing was stolen from any of our offices. Nothing that we noticed, anyway. One of the offices was a psychiatrist’s. She had some drug samples in a drawer, and even those weren’t taken.” She paused. “But I still hate computers!”
    After the meal, Rita went upstairs to her own place, and Leah and Caprice took Sammy and Lady for a walk. Leah, who was between serious boyfriends, usually walked Kimi, and I felt convinced that she’d chosen Sammy instead because he was such an attention grabber. Malamutes are tremendously showy showoffs. Furthermore, they create occasions for talking to strangers. You don’t just hear the usual What a beautiful dog, either. Rather, you get comments that absolutely require correction, such as Nice husky! Incredibly, you even get asked, Is that an Alaskan Malibu? So, Rowdy and Kimi were more than adequate as dating service representatives, but Sammy’s combination of gorgeous looks and puppyish demeanor was irresistible. I tactfully refrained from uttering the phrase man magnet lest I raise Leah’s feminist hackles.
    As Steve and I were loading the dishwasher and cleaning up the kitchen, he said, “Anita showed up at work today.“
    “And bit Leah,” I said. “I noticed a bandage on her hand.” Steve laughed. “You’re closer than you know. When she showed up—I was busy. I didn’t even see her—Leah happened to be carrying a cat from one of the exam rooms to another, and the cat sank his teeth into Leah’s hand. He’s never done anything like that before. Passive, mellow cat.”
    “I hope you got Leah to a doctor. Cat bites can be very serious.”
    “No kidding?”
    “Sorry.”
    “Yes, she’s on antibiotics.”
    “She showed up here this morning. Not Leah. Anita. Anita did. She’s on some kick about undoing wrongs. She called Gabrielle, too. When she got here, I was in the yard with India and Lady.”
    “I hope you ignored her.”
    “I told her to vaporize. She was outside the gate. I didn’t let her in. India probably wouldn’t have let me even if I’d wanted to. Lady was cowering.”
    Steve stopped wiping the table. Losing his usual air of calm, he almost threw himself at me, and instead of holding me gently, he wrapped his arms around me so hard that I could barely breathe. “I am so sorry,” he said. “I am so sorry.”
    “Steve, it is not your fault that she showed up here. I can take care of myself. She is no threat to any of us. Yes, she Scares Lady, but so do a lot of other things, and Lady trusts India.”
    “For good reason,” Steve said. “She trusts you, too. Also for good reason. You know, I can begin to forgive myself all the rest, but I can never forgive myself for how she treated Lady. I just didn’t see it. Until it was too late.”
    “It isn’t too late. Lady is fine. She really is. She has all of us. You, me, Leah, India, Rowdy. And Sammy! He’s so lighthearted that he can’t imagine why Lady worries. Even Kimi! And now Caprice. Steve, I swear it. Anita is no threat to any of us.”
    “I love