Gaits of Heaven

his mouth. Steve and Barbara were speaking in undertones. Steve then produced a leash from his pocket and had Barbara gait Dolfo back and forth across the yard. I noticed a slight limp, as Steve undoubtedly did, too.
    “Caprice,” Ted called out, “do me a favor. Go up to the medicine cabinet and get me some Valium. Or Ativan.”
    George intervened. “Ted, it’s not a good idea to take anything right now.”
    “I’m hyperventilating! I can feel a panic attack coming on.“
    “George, do you want me to call an ambulance?” I asked. “Or I could drive Ted to the hospital. And does anyone know where Wyeth is?”
    Everyone looked at everyone else.
    “Caprice, go look for your brother,” Ted said.
    “I’m an only child. Besides, he probably ran away when he saw what he’d done.”
    “Enough of this!” I said. "Caprice, it’s just not the time. Steve, what’s the story on that limp?”
    Steve nodded. “Looks like something grazed his right front foot. That’s probably why he yelped. There’s no sign of anything else, but he ought to be kept under observation.” Leah, whose absence I hadn’t noticed, appeared from the house with a plastic bag of ice in her hands. Without consulting anyone, she went to Ted and wrapped the ice pack around his ankle. “That’ll help with the swelling,” she said. “And the pain.”
    “Leah, thank you,” I said. “Steve, could you and Caprice see whether Wyeth is in the house? If he isn’t, we need to find him.”
    “I didn’t see anyone,” Leah said.
    “Caprice, please go with Steve. You know where Wyeth’s room is, and he doesn’t, but check everywhere.”
    Ted was now sitting up. He punched a number into his cell phone. To all of us, he said, “Caprice is probably right—Wyeth has run off somewhere, running from his own irrational guilt. I tried his cell phone before. No answer.” In a few seconds, he added, “No answer now.”
    Steve and Caprice had gone up the back stairs and were presumably searching the house. George said, “Barbara, do you want to take Ted to the ER? Or do you want me to do it?”
    Without answering her husband, without even turning toward him, Barbara addressed Ted. “Mount Auburn?”
    Ted nodded.
    “George will drive you. I’ll stay here by the phone in case Wyeth turns up or calls, that is, if he really has taken off somewhere. In fact, if he isn’t here, let me be command central. For a start, we need to exchange phone numbers. Dolfo can stay here with me. I’ll keep an eye on him. If he shows any distress, I’ll call Steve, or George can drive him to Angelí. Leah, would you go find a pen and paper so we can deal with phone numbers? And once everything’s a little more clear, I’ll take Dolfo home with me. Ted, you’re not going to be in any shape to manage him for a few days.”
    Leah carried out her assignment. Caprice and Steve returned to the yard with the news that Wyeth seemed to be nowhere in the house. It belatedly occurred to Ted that someone should call his ex-wife, Johanna, in case Wyeth had fled to his mother’s house. Instead of placing the call himself, he tried to foist off the job, first on Caprice, then on Barbara. Caprice refused, but Barbara agreed and immediately borrowed and used Ted’s cell phone. It seemed to me that Barbara showed exceptional tact in describing matters to Johanna Green. Instead of bluntly informing Johanna that her son had tossed his computer and peripherals out a window and might have killed Ted and Dolfo, Barbara said that a difficult situation had arisen. Was Wyeth there? With a glance at Ted, Barbara said that maybe Wyeth had gone to a' friend’s house. Could Johanna think of people who should be called? Ted shook his head. I heard Caprice mutter that Wyeth didn’t have any friends. As Barbara was telling Johanna that it seemed a little premature to call the police and as Leah was helpfully writing down phone numbers for everyone, George and Steve helped Ted to hobble toward the gate in the yard and thus toward George’s car. As Barbara was saying that Wyeth really couldn’t be considered a missing person, my eyes wandered to the computer that lay on the lawn. What drew my attention was, I suspect, the recognition that the piece of trash that Wyeth had thrown out was a newer and more powerful desktop computer than my own. As I was pondering that observation, I noticed that a drive door was open and that a CD or DVD remained in it. If the disc had been a commercial