“About Dr. Lintig. I’ve just checked back through the records of the medical board. It took me a little while to get the right line into their office, but I did it.”

“What,” I asked, “did you find out?”

“In 1919,” she said, “Dr. Lintig filed a certificate showing that he had changed his name to Charles Loring Alftmont. So they changed their records accordingly, and he’s now practicing at Santa Carlotta — eye, ear, nose, and throat specialist.”

I said, “That’s fine — only you still haven’t told me what you called up about.”

Her voice was sugar-coated. “Listen, Donald, Bertha needs you.”

“What happened?” I asked.

She said, “In a way, Donald, it’s your fault.”

“What is?”

“We’re fired.”

“What do you mean?”