Aurora glanced, afraid, at my mother on the sofa.

And then, in a whisper, she told him — a small, terrible account of the morning, of a lesson my mother had decided to teach her at the stove.

I will not set the words down here.

I only know that the officer taking notes stopped writing, and looked up, and set his jaw, and that I had to put my hand against the counter to stay standing.

Chapter 16 — The Drawer

The hallway door clicked open.