Vance?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said.

“Don’t change anything without checking with me first.”

He nodded once and went back to his work.

At three in the afternoon the second-floor playroom was silent except for the rustle of plastic toys.

Sunlight lay in pale squares on the rug while Maisie sat cross-legged beside her toy chest.

She had on her blue play dress and was holding a red toy stethoscope against the tummy of her soft stuffed bunny.

“Is the bunny sick?” I asked, sitting down on the rug next to her.