He remembered Margaret calling him into her sitting room.

He remembered a green velvet box on the table, its lid open.

He remembered asking whether the necklace inside had belonged to his mother.

Margaret had shut the lid very quickly.

“Go play,” she had said.

Later that afternoon he’d watched someone carry the same box into the hall.

He could not see the person’s face clearly; the hallway light had been off.

But the cuff of the person’s sleeve had been dark purple, with a silver button shaped like a leaf.