Milicant crossed over to shake hands with Mason. “If there’s anything I can do,” he said, “don’t hesitate to call on me.”
“I won’t,” Mason said, and then to Phyllis Leeds, “How are you making it?”
Her face showed hard lines. There were puffs under her eyes. “All right,” she said. “It would be a lot better if I thought Uncle Alden was all right.”
“He’s all right,” Mason said. “Some doctor has him under opiates right now. That habeas corpus is going to scare them into the open. How’s Barkler getting along?”
“I don’t know. He isn’t there. I don’t know where he went.”
“When did he leave?”
“Early this morning.”
“Say where he was going?”
“No. He’s peculiar. He comes and goes as he pleases.”
Mason said, “All right. Go on back home. Try and get some rest. Take it easy. This is just preliminary skirmishing. Save your energy for the main fight. When we have that habeas corpus hearing, keep Emily Milicant out of the picture. I don’t want her to seem too interested.”