Right to Die

four-mile point, my stride and my breathing were on automatic pilot, my mind drifting to the Andrus case.
    It had been a month since I’d seen the professor at the Ritz for breakfast, and she was due back in Boston that day to deliver a lecture. In the interim I’d helped a defense attorney on a questionable manslaughter charge. I’d also called Inés Roja three times: no more notes at the school or house, Andrus telling Inés the same thing from San Diego .
    The notes. Our boy sends one when Andrus leaves for Sint Maarten, but none when she comes back. And none when she leaves for San Diego . Does that mean he knew about the Caribbean trip but not the California one? Walter Strock, Tucker Hebert, and Manolo obviously knew about both junkets, Louis Doleman probably neither. Ray Cuervo and Gunther Yary each were sharp enough to find out where Andrus was at any time.
    Another thing. The mode of delivery varies: U.S. mail, by-hand delivery, pasted label, intraschool system. Why be erratic in both when and how the notes are sent? To throw Andrus even more off balance?
    My frustration level was lowered by Andrus being three thousand miles away as her case went nowhere. Passing the Hyatt Regency, however, I decided to burn off the frustration I did feel by upping my pace a little, the wind flapping the Gore-Tex jacket against my shoulders as I ran before it.

    At the office that day, Inés Roja called. The professor had arrived from the coast for her lecture that night. If possible, Andrus wanted me to come to the town house by five p.m. and ride with her to the site. I said I’d be there.
    After spending the afternoon on the manslaughter case, I walked through the cold to the mansion, the sidewalks nearly as glazed as the running paths had been. It was just getting dark as Manolo opened the door for me. If he’d been out in the sun of San Diego much, he didn’t show it. He was sweating heavily, the foyer like an oven. I took off my coat, Inés coming downstairs in a short-sleeved blouse and dark skirt.
    “John, it is so good to see you.”
    “Same here. Have you had your furnace adjusted recently?”
    “I am sorry?”
    “It’s pretty hot in here.”
    She smiled. “The professor is no longer used to the winter. It was eighty degrees Fahrenheit when she left California .”
    “She’s upstairs?”
    “Yes.”
    “Can I see her?”
    “I will ask.”
    I watched Inés clop back up the stairs. Lithe and attractive when she didn’t think about it.
    I turned. Manolo, a long parka over his arm, was staring at me. He moved his mouth as if to spit, but just went out the front door, slamming it behind him.

    “John, have you been sick?”
    Andrus appeared weary, a pile of opened mail on the desk behind her.
    “No, I’ve been running a little more. Probably dropped a few pounds.”
    “Good. For a... Alec told me that you and he talked.”
    “Last month, after I saw you at the Ritz. How is he?”
    “I’ve spoken with him, and sometimes Del , from California . They seem buoyant. I’m going to see them after the lecture tonight.”
    Andrus massaged her eyes with the heels of her hands. I said, “Would you like me to wait downstairs?”
    “Oh, no. It was just the flight.”
    “Bad?”
    “Bumpy. Storms everywhere east of the Mississippi . I must concede that San Diego offers considerable meteorological charm, if it weren’t for the fact that I’d probably never get anything done out there.”
    “Tuck come back with you?”
    “Yes. He’s off running errands.” She indicated the pile of correspondence. “I’m left to wade through all this.”
    “Any surprises?”
    “Any...? Oh, you mean notes. No, nothing.”
    “No incidents in San Diego either?”
    “None. Tuck was with me most of the time, Manolo the balance. I must say, I believe my demented pen pal has lost interest.”
    “Yet you asked Inés to have me come over tonight.”
    “For two reasons. First, have you made any progress?” I explained how I’d played out the string of people to see. “What’s the second reason?”
    Andrus frowned. “I’m mindful that the labeled book appeared after my last speaking appearance here.”
    I nodded. “What’s your speech tonight?”
    “The same one you heard at the Rabb debate, I’m afraid.”
    “Doesn’t the audience notice that?”
    Andrus shook her head. “Most of the people will be different. But even the faithful feel reinforced, hearing the same things.”
    “Where is the