David gave a short, quiet nod.

“He still believes paper and money control people,” David said.

“Did Clare tell you what she found in your mother’s cedar chest?”

I stopped on the carpet, twisting my silver class ring on my right ring finger.

“My mother’s cedar chest was given away when Gerald remarried,” I said.

“Clare tracked it down at an estate auction in Wilmington four years ago,” David said.

“She found something tucked inside the velvet lining of the bottom tray that changes everything he told us.”