Invasion of Privacy

Jamaica , then?”
    “No. Haiti , Port-au-Prince .”
    I stopped writing. “Still have family there?”
    “Some. I left so long ago, I stay informed from CNN more than anything else, but I was glad President Clinton finally sent in our troops. The attachés and the Fraph— that is the ‘Front for Advancement and Progress?’—are the younger brothers and older sons of the Duvaliers’ Ton-ton Macoutes, and I saw enough of them while I still lived there.”
    “How long have you been in the States?”
    “Since I was ten years old.”
    I went back to the form. “MAIDEN NAME.”
    “Ste. Hilaire. That’s S-T-E and H-I-L-A-I-R-E.”
    “EDUCATION?”
    “Bachelor’s degree from UMass Boston, some graduate credits but no degree from Northeastern.”
    “I’m sorry to have to ask this, but... your husband?” Robinette placed her glass carefully on a side table. “He died before Jamey and I moved to the Willows.”
    We looked at each other for a second before she said, “And therefore he could not have known anything about Hendrix Management.”
    “Right, of course. How long have you lived here?”
    “About two years.”
    Again from the questionnaire, “PURCHASE OR RENT?”
    “Purchase.”
    “Based on what I’ve learned so far, I understand the original developer had some problems?”
    “Yes, or rather that is what I heard too. But I bought directly from the new owners.”
    “The C.W. Realty Trust?”
    A hesitation. “I believe that was the name. I just send the monthly maintenance checks to the Hendrix people.”
    “Have any FAMILY MEMBERS visited you here?”
    “Well, Jamey lives here, he does not ‘visit.’ But no, no family otherwise.”
    “OCCUPATION?”
    “Jamey is still in school.”
    “Here in Plymouth Mills?”
    “No. He commutes as a day student to Tabor Academy .”
    I’d heard of it, an expensive boarding school maybe half an hour away, in Marion . “Impressive.”
    “He has always been a fine student.”
    I wrote on my paper. “And you?”
    “I am no longer a student.”
    “Sorry. That next question stands for your occupation.”
    “I do not work.”
    When I looked up at her, Robinette seemed prepared to wait me out. No job, but she purchased a condo, pays monthly maintenance, and covers tuition at Tabor. However, my “clients” wouldn’t be interested in how she handled all that.
    Back to the form. “How have your DEALINGS been WITH the HENDRIX COMPANY?”
    “No complaints.”
    “None?”
    “When there is something wrong, I call them, and it gets fixed. We have a resident superintendent, Paulie.”
    “I’ve met him.”
    “Well, he takes care of the grounds just fine, and the only thing I can think of that has gone wrong was the mosquitoes from the bog, and when a number of us complained about that, I believe the company had the town go in and spray.”
    “And that took care of things?”
    “Or knocked them back some, which was enough.”
    “And no other problems that Hendrix didn’t fix?” Robinette shifted a little on the couch. “Not that I know of.”
    “NEIGHBORS is the next item. Again I want to stress the confidence in which I’ll hold your answers.”
    She shifted some more. “I do not quite see what my neighbors have to do with your interviewing me. You have talked—or will talk—to them too, correct?”
    “Yes, but it’s helpful for me to get a sense of how everyone in your cluster here sees everyone else, so my clients can judge whether your responses correlate with their situation.”
    The flaring of the nostrils again. “Then it does not sound as though my answers are going to be ‘held’ very ‘confidentially.’ ”
    I shook my head. “What I meant, Mrs. Robinette, is that I’ll know who said what, and that will remain confidential with me. I’ll summarize those individual answers, in an identity-blind way, for my clients. That’s how they want it, too.”
    A slow blink. “Ask your questions.”
    I was afraid of losing her, so I cut to the car chase. “Let’s start with next door. Andrew Dees. That’s D-E-E-S, I believe?”
    “Correct.”
    “HOMETOWN?”
    “I do not know.”
    “EDUCATION?”
    “I do not know that, either.”
    “Okay. OCCUPATION?”
    “Andrew runs the photocopy store in the town center.”
    “Owns it or just manages it?”
    “I am not sure, but he refers to it as ‘his shop.’ ”
    “FAMILY?”
    “Of Andrew?”
    “Yes.”
    “Why would you not just ask him?”
    “I plan to, but I haven’t