I looked at Fix Farrell standing by the window with his hat on. His face remained impassive. Alexander continued.

"I do not require that you be a Christian. But I do require that you understand my faith and its power. We will be together often and sometimes continuously for some time. My wife and I are in earnest."

Farrell said, "Okay, Meade, cut the shit. We ain't hiring him to pray for you."

"Please be careful of your language, Francis, in front of Mrs. Alexander."

"Yeah, sure," Farrell said. "But Spenser is what we need in this job. My people checked him out real thorough. Yeah, he's a royal pain in the ass; but he's got the stuff. So let's get to it and stop frigging around."

Alexander smiled and shook his head slightly. He looked at me a moment.

"Do you have the stuff, Mr. Spenser?"

"So far," I said.

He smiled again and nodded. Everyone was silent. Westin looked at his watch. The two Fitchburg cops sat stolidly in their chairs. You don't have to be a cop long to get good at waiting.

Ronni Alexander said, "Are you married, Mr. Spenser?" Her smile when she asked me was very bright.

"No, ma'am."

"Ever?"

"No, ma'am."

She kept smiling and nodded as if she had confirmed a suspicion. If I'd been married, I'd have had better manners.

"Do you want me to demonstrate anything?" I said to Alexander. "Shoot the wings off a fly? Wrestle a bear? I'm really very skillful for an unmarried agnostic."

"Funny as hell too," Westin said.

"That's free," I said. "A fringe benefit, when you pay for the muscle."