The Arrangement novel · Chapter 12 of 24

Chapter 12: The Inspection

The trustee waited at the top of the lawn, and we walked up to her.

I had Caspar's coat on over yesterday's shirt, bare feet in my wet boots, and sailcloth fibers in my hair.

Caspar wore his sweater inside out for the second time in four days.

She took all of it in with a single glance.

"Good morning," she said. "I'd like to see the house. I'll have coffee first."

That was all.

The housekeeper met us at the kitchen door with her arms folded and the corner of her mouth twitching.

She poured four cups without being asked.

The trustee drank hers standing at the counter, looking out the window at the boathouse.

"The padlock is cut," she said.

"It's open," Caspar said. "I had the key."

"Since when?"

"Since I was twelve."

She nodded slowly, and put down her cup.

"Mr. Kell, I'll start with you. Miss Pennock, would you wait in the dining room?"

The housekeeper steered me into the next room and shut the door.

Through the wall I heard his voice rise and fall, steady, for about four minutes.

Then the trustee's voice, shorter.

Then nothing.

Then it was my turn, and Caspar came out looking like a man who had been X-rayed.

He squeezed my hand as he passed.

The trustee sat at the kitchen table with her legal pad open in front of her, finally covered in writing.

"Three questions," she said. "Answer for yourself."

"All right."

"What does Mr. Kell do when he can't sleep?"

"He folds things. The quilt on the floor. His sweaters. A page of tide tables, once."

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