Chapter 12: The Drawer

I did not sleep, and I did not move, and at five-thirty he got up.

Mason dressed in the dark without making a sound.

He came to the edge of the bed and stood there for a long moment.

Then he kissed my forehead, very lightly, and went down the stairs.

The door closed. His boots crossed the gravel toward the main house.

I lay still for several minutes.

Then I got up and put on his shirt, because mine was somewhere on the floor.

I went down the narrow stairs in my bare feet.

The kitchen was gray with early light.

The mended table stood where it had stood the night before, with the wooden brace across its legs.

It had one drawer.

He had said he would keep it in the drawer.

I stood with my hand on the knob and thought about the rule.

Anything about the house, within a day.

It had been three days since the study.

I opened the drawer.

The folder lay flat on a clean dish towel, with its red tab sticking up.

I took it out and sat down at the table, and I opened it.

The first page was a letterhead: Confidential Inquiries, in small gray capitals.

Under it was a date from six years ago in March.

Under that was a line in black type: Client: C. Prescott.

Under that was my name.

Tanner, Emmeline Marie. Born at Mercy General Hospital. Raised at 41 Alder Street, Larkmoor.

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