“Victoria,” he said, “the north wall is out of plumb by nearly two inches.”

Victoria touched her pearls, the third one where the nacre had a hairline crack, and then the clasp.

“We’ll deal with that later.”

I put my cup down.

“Who is this?”

“A friend from the historical committee.” She smiled at me.

“He’s helping me understand the house.”

“The committee meets on Tuesdays?”