"Thank you," Watson said, his voice soft again. "I would appreciate that, a good deal. A practice takes some time to build, at any rate, so if I can stay busy in the meantime... I suspect it would be good for me."

There was a relief in that, in being accepted, in being welcomed, in having some sort of purpose to his life besides packing up the odds and ends of someone else's death.

"Thank you, also, for coming to see me today. I think I needed it."