Phil said that night over the phone. “I guess you must have given her a shot rather than a powder,” Stevie said. “How did you know?” asked Phil, sounding startled. “My deep knowledge of horse medicine, plus a conversation with Judy Barker.” “She’s been treating No-Name, but it’s frustrating because we can’t find out anything about her past,” Phil said. “No one knows her previous history, so we don’t know what kind of fly spray her previous owners used, or soap, or anything.” “It probably wasn’t the soap,” said Stevie, showing off her new knowledge, “because most soaps are hypoallergenic.” “Hypo what?” Phil said. “ ‘Hypo’ is the opposite of ‘hyper,’ ” said Stevie, who had looked it up in the dictionary. “ ‘Hypoallergenic’ means ‘low allergy.’ ” “You’re a human dictionary,” Phil said. But meanwhile Stevie was thinking that it was time for the allergy detective, namely her, to go into high gear. For a second Stevie imagined herself in a Sherlock Holmes cap with a huge magnifying glass examining No-Name’s food and bedding.
