Spiral

one.”
    ”Doctor, after his siesta?”
    ”After...? Oh, David, yes. When he gets up again, he may go to the exercise room or out to his hammock.”
    From my case in the Keys, I knew that last word had a double meaning in Florida. ”A hammock stretched between two trees?”
    ”No. No, a ‘hammock’ of trees themselves.”
    A grove, the other meaning of the word. But... ”Where is this hammock?”
    ”About twelve miles west, on one of the many tracts that Nicolas owns out there.”
    ”Wait a minute. I thought David rarely left his room, much less the house.”
    ”That’s correct, but he developed an interest in botany as a boy, something he could do by himself with no family around. Also, plants are... stable organisms. They don’t cause changes he can’t deal with.”
    ”A plant stays put?”
    ”Something like that, yes.”
    ”But how does David get to a hammock twelve miles
    west?”
    Forbes blinked. ”Why, he drives, of course.”
    ”He drives?”
    ”Yes, Mr. Cuddy. Disabilities like David’s are no longer grounds for denying the afflicted all the privileges the rest of us enjoy.”
    ”You’re saying David has a driver’s license.”
    ”And his own vehicle, a small pickup truck. As you can imagine, the testing process was incredibly difficult for him. But I encouraged him to persevere, and I’m proud to say he did.”
    ”How long ago did you begin treating him?”
    ”Since Nicolas moved down here permanently with Cassandra.”
    ”In years?”
    ”About... twenty? If it’s important to you, I can consult my records tomorrow.”
    ”So how old was David when you first saw him?”
    ”Eleven, I believe.”
    ”And then six or seven years later, he gets a driver’s—”
    ”Actually, Mr. Cuddy, it was only a year ago.”
    ”When he was... thirty-two?”
    ”Yes. I had to build David up to it, slowly.”
    ”Which suggests that he’s gotten better.”
    Forbes shook his head. ”Unfortunately, very few depressives get ‘better,’ in the sense I think you mean of moving toward cured. Oh, occasionally there’s a miracle, but the most we can hope for in David’s case is stabilization, because his father won’t authorize any more electroshock therapy or opera—”
    ”David’s had shock treatments?”
    ”When he was younger, but it’s still a permitted form of treatment, just not one Nicolas wants anymore. Nor does the patient, for that matter.”
    ”David’s a part of the decision process.”
    ”Of course, Mr. Cuddy. He’s of legal age and not incompetent, just severely depressed. So, I do what I can for him with the combination of drugs every day and therapy twice a week.”
    ”At your office?”
    ”Ah, no. I travel to the house, actually.”
    ”Why?”
    Forbes blinked again. ”Why?”
    ‘Yes. David has a license, and the pills don’t keep him from driving, do they?”
    ”No.”
    ”And the Isle of Athens is—what, a mile from you?”
    ”Less, but David can’t really manage driving himself much before four, anyway.”
    ”You don’t take late afternoon appointments?”
    ”I do. But”—Forbes shook his fishing rod this time—”the Helides house is conveniently on the way to my marina.”
    I gave it a moment before saying, ”I’ve been told David has a computer?”
    ”It’s a way for him to interact socially without the ordeal of a face-to-face, so to speak.”
    The ordeal. ”So he does electronic mail?”
    ”And visits Web pages, perhaps even commenting on some sites and seeing others comment back.”
    I thought I’d heard nearly enough. ”Anything I should stay away from in talking with David?”
    Forbes actually set his fishing rod down now. ”Yes.”
    ”What?”
    He looked at me directly. ”Any mention of his niece.”
    I wonder what must have been on my face. ”Doctor, you understand that—”
    ”—that Nicolas wants to find out who killed his granddaughter, yes. And that he wants you to speak with everyone at the party inside that house on the day in question.”
    ”But I’m not supposed to mention Veronica’s name?” Forbes patted the hair on his head. ”I told you before, Mr. Cuddy. David is upset by any change, and the bigger the change, the more he’s upset.”
    ”Meaning the murder of his niece really hit him.”
    ”Especially because she was interested in computers, and her tutor, Tranh —however smart he may be—is not nearly as sophisticated with using them as someone who lives much of his life through one.”
    ”But Spi