She did not say she fell. But she did not say anything else, either.

She simply lowered her eyes and surrendered the account of her own injury to the woman standing over her with the wine, and that silence told me more than any accusation could have.

Chapter 3 — The System

And then I saw the pantry door, and the whole shape of it came clear, and my blood turned to ice water in my veins.

Someone had installed a small brass latch on the outside of the pantry door.

On the outside — well above my mother’s reach.