I can also give you the number of a hospital social worker who knows the assistance programs better than I do.”

It was the first exchange inside that mansion in which someone had not tried to make money a measure of my worth.

I arrived the next morning to find a binder on Pearl’s desk labeled BEHAVIORAL COMPLIANCE.

Each page listed times she refused meals, ignored instructions, or remained silent during a visitor’s examination.

Beside several entries, someone had written uncooperative in red ink.

Pearl sat nearby arranging small wooden boats in a row.