They moved through the wall, heading toward the light, light that made their human brains feel more at ease; it did just the opposite for the roach brains, however. There was a huge tube running through this part of the wall, looking almost the size of a felled redwood tree on their current scale, with relatively smaller tubes branching off of it at regular intervals.

(Plumbing,) Jake commented; Rachel looked back, seeing it now.

It was kind of obvious in retrospect, really. The sudden sense of movement in the darkness just ahead of them made Rachel yelp in surprise, before she realized what it was that she had seen.

(It's another cockroach,) Shara remarked. (Seems you're not really out of place, here.)

(Come on, let's get this over with,) Rachel said, trying not to grumble; she didn't particularly like it in here, what with the small, nearly lightless spaces. Not to mention all the roaches, and the fact that they were her size.

Or really, she was theirs, but she didn't particularly like to think of it that way.

Scampering straight up the nearest vertical pipe to her position, Rachel soon found herself poking her long, whiplike antennae out into the pale light underneath a sink.

(It's a bathroom,) she reported, after having taken a few moments to reorient herself. (Come on, you two.)

The three of them piled out of the hole that she had located, and onto the cool, smooth tile floor at the base of the wall. Rachel, however, couldn't help noticing that it wasn't quite as smooth as it looked when she was a human.

(Do you think we're in the right place?) Shara asked.

(I don't know, I forgot to bring my map of the inside of the walls of the nuthouse.)

(Hmm, I wonder if you could buy one of those at Triple-A?) Shara said mock-thoughtfully.

Rachel laughed. (You know, I might just check that out once we get out of here,) she said, in the same tone that Shara had used. (It'd be a big help for times like this, you have to admit.)

(All right, you two, that's enough,) Jake said, trying to sound stern and unaffected. (We need to have Cassie or one of the others confirm our position. There's a window just a bit above us; let's go.)

(Right, Jake,) Shara said, as the three of them scurried up the wall to the sill bordering the window that Jake had pointed out to them.

(Hey,) Rachel called, directing her thought-speak to the rest of the Animorphs, still in the air where they had been asked to patrol with their own bird morphs. (Do any of you guys see two cockroaches and a fly on a windowsill?)

(Yes,) Ax answered. (I see you. You are in a small room just alongside the room where the human named Edelman is.)

(Thanks,) she said, then turned her attention to the others. (Well, looks like we made it.)

(Good,) Jake said. (Now let's get back down before somebody sees us.)

The three of them made their way back to the space under the sink, then climbed the wall under it to make sure that no one who wasn't looking particularly hard would see them.

(All right, now we need to talk to Mr. Edelman,) Jake said, after they were far enough out of sight of any casual searchers to be safe. (We need to get him to come in here; we'll have at least some privacy in here.)

(What then?) she asked. (He talks to a cockroach? Or a fly, as the case may be?)

(No,) Jake said firmly. (One of us needs to demorph and talk to him.)

(I'd be perfectly happy to do that,) Shara said. (Agile as this morph might be, I'm not particularly fond of it.)

(Wait, don't you think that he might find it kind of weird, to find some kid magically appeared in a bathroom to meet him?)

(This is a facility for people with mental problems, Rachel,) Jake pointed out. (Who's going to believe him even if he does talk?)

(All right then, I'll handle this,) she said. (Nothing against you, Shara, but I was the one who spotted Mr. Edelman in the first place, and I'm starting to think I'm sorry I did. You guys just stay up here out of the way; I'd hate for anyone else to see you and end up freaking out.)