Free A Night at the Operation by JEFFREY COHEN Page A

and sat back in the uncomfortable metal frame chair. “Didn’t mean to bother you,” I mumbled.
    The Woman in Black smiled, tolerantly, which I hadn’t expected. “I’m sorry,” she said, in a low, almost musical tone. “I have a lot on my mind. My father died the other night.”
    That sort of thing had never happened in junior high school; it took me a long moment to regain the power of speech. “I’m sorry to hear that,” I told her. “Was he a patient here? Not a great advertisement for the place.”
    “He certainly was,” the woman said. “And make no mistake.” Then her voice dropped to a whisper. “One of the doctors here killed him,” she said.

9
     
     
     
     
    LILLIAN Chapman Mayer introduced herself, and I think I might have tried to do the same, but she wasn’t listening. She was not reticent in her judgment of Sharon, Sharon’s practice, the medical profession in general, the American Medical Association, and anyone wearing a white coat, especially after Labor Day. But mostly Sharon.
    This time, the dilemma about identifying myself did not present itself, since I never managed to get a word in edgewise. Lillian began with the serious breach of ethics involved in “a business arrangement with a patient,” and then moved on to the crass disregard for a patient’s emotional state, the lack of communication among doctors working on the same patient, the high cost of medical insurance in America, Michael Moore’s Sicko , something about avian flu, and after that I sort of lost consciousness with my eyes open for a while.
    I did notice Tovarich shuffling out of the restroom and into the hallway, where he appeared to be having a professional conversation with Betty. She nodded a lot. He watched her face, which, even for an elderly gentleman, is an effort when talking to Betty. One’s eyes tend to wander.
    When I came to, Lillian was working up a head of steam over Dr. Simon-Freed’s obvious use of “feminine wiles” to coerce her father into leaving her money, and that was when I spoke over her long enough to be heard.
    “Hold on a second. You’re suggesting that Sharon seduced your father so he would include her in his will?” I think my tone more than my words betrayed me.
    Lillian, eyes wide, sat still for a moment. “Sharon?” she asked. “Do you know the doctor personally?”
    “You could say that. We used to be married.” What the hell.
    Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she managed, “Well! You might have said so sooner!”
    “I didn’t have enough duct tape to keep you from talking that long,” I said. This wasn’t a good day to get on my bad side.
    “Well, you should feel lucky you got out when you could. Your ex-wife was clearly seeing my father, and I don’t mean as a patient.”
    I stared at her. “Excuse me?”
    “You heard me. He used to make sure he was here at least one evening a week, always when the office was closing. And I know he didn’t make it home for hours after, sometimes not at all.” Lillian grinned at me with the smug satisfaction of someone who enjoys the discomfort of others.
    “And you think he was . . . seeing Sharon?” I would have known. There was no way I wouldn’t have known. Sharon would have told me. And even then, there wasn’t any way. I didn’t believe it.
    “I know it.” She stabbed her finger at me. “I had them followed.”
    I came close to swallowing my lips. “I beg your pardon?”
    Lillian nodded. “I hired a private detective, a guy named Konigsberg. When there’s that much money on the line, someone like me needs to be on the lookout for every little slut like your ex-wife.”
    I considered going for her throat, but there were witnesses. And besides, Lillian didn’t give me the time before she started talking again.
    “Thank god my husband’s out of town,” she said. “If Wally knew everything I know about this, you’d be dealing with your ex-wife’s murder, not my father’s.”
    It was all I