I stepped out onto the uneven pavement and started walking toward the crystal lights.

I parked my car four blocks away on a quiet public side street.

At that hour of the afternoon, the wealthy Belle Meade neighborhood was completely hushed.

The walk took twelve minutes under a thick canopy of tall green trees.

I had on the faded brown cotton shirt and the cheap flat shoes I’d bought the day before, and I’d left the expensive blue silk dress Vanessa insisted I wear hanging empty in my closet.

I pulled the four-dollar worn shawl tighter around my shoulders.