It had to be You

department that randomly checks nursing homes. She wasn’t on an inspection this time, just calling on me while she was in Voorburg to visit a friend who lives here.“
    “Is this Miss Quincy a bona fide nurse? Did she go into Mr. Connor’s room?“ Howard asked.
    “She is, and she did. Because I asked her to,“ Miss Twibell said. “Her opinion agreed with mine that he had only a day or less left. You see, he broke his kneecap falling off a ladder and a severe infection deep in the shattered joint is what would have taken him. The patella, that’s the real name for the kneecap, was shattered and pinned together surgically before he came here. Apparently that was when the infection started. We’ve been cleaning out the wound, alternating peroxide to bubble out the foul matter, and alcohol and sulfa grains to kill the germs, at regular intervals almost the whole time he’s been here. There was nothing else we could do.”
    Jack was standing around the corner of the door to the big room, taking notes madly, hoping no one noticed what he was doing.
    Robert cast a pale-faced glance at Lily and she whispered back, “Buck up. It’ll soon be over.”
    Howard said, “Miss Twibell, you don’t have to defend yourself. I’m just trying to find out who went into his room.“
    “Thank you, Chief Walker,“ she said with relief.
    “Just for the record, what does this Miss Quincy usually do when she’s here?“ Howard asked.
    “She swabs various surfaces and puts the swabs in vials that are checked by someone else for germs,“ Miss Twibell said. “She also visits all the patients to ask, without any of the staff in the room, how they’re being treated. All except Mr. Farleigh.“
    “Why is he an exception?“
    “I’ll tell you that privately later,“ Miss Twibell said firmly.
    “What else does she do?“
    “She checks for dust and cobwebs. She examines the laundry that’s been cleaned and ready to be used. She ascertains that anything that’s been used on patients, like bandages or swabs, has been disposed of properly and promptly. She also looks for anything that might have been spilled and not cleaned up. She’s very thorough. Chief Walker, you should talk to her. She’ll tell you we’ve never had a single bad mark against us.“
    “I’ll check with her even though I believe you. Why are your hands over your ears, Robert?”
    Lily nudged him and repeated what Howard had asked.
    “My ears are a bit cold,“ Robert lied. “I was just warming them up.”
    Howard was hard-pressed not to snort his disbelief. He knew what a sissy Robert was about other people’s physical illnesses. Howard went on, “Who else was in Mr. Connor’s room this morning?”
    Betty was the one to respond. “His grandson Kelly. He came as Miss Quincy was leaving. He knows his grandmother always shows up on Monday or Tuesday at eleven in the morning, and Kelly comes to visit his grandfather earlier or later than she comes or on other days, when he’s in town.“
    “Did he stay long?“ Howard asked.
    “No, I don’t think so,“ Betty replied. “He brought some trinkets to him. I was out here in the main room. I glanced into Mr. Connor’s room after Kelly left and they’re still on the night table. Or they were then.“
    “Trinkets? What sort?“ Howard asked.
    “Oh, little samples of things. Chewing gum. Shaving brushes. Tiny tins of tooth powder and such,“ Betty replied.
    “Don’t any of you touch those things,“ Howard said. “I’ll have to take them away for examination of the contents. How does this boy come to have these samples?”
    This time Lily answered. “He drives an enclosed bus around to small towns in a couple counties that don’t have drugstores. Towns like Voorburg. And goes house to house with samples. The whole containers are in the bus if you want to buy them.“
    “Where is he now? Does anybody know?“ Only Lily had a reply. “He was at Grace and Favor on Friday. I suppose he might still be nearby.“ There was a round of shrugs from the others. Even Miss Smith and Miss Jones, who usually were remarkably knowledgeable about people who visited the nursing home as well as many individuals who hadn’t, garnered from the other women in their handwork group, had no good information.
    The old ladies had taken in everything that had been asked or said, and were sure to inform their knitting-circle friends of every word, Miss Twibell thought. In fact, this was the only time she’d seen