When he comes out, Lydia, he’ll own a suitcase and a suit and a very thorough criminal record.

That is the sum of it.”

I picked up the envelope.

I had expected it to feel like something — heavy, or final, or haunted.

It felt like paper.

It was smooth and light in my hand and it carried no ghost of dread at all, and I sat for a moment turning it over, a little surprised at how little it weighed.

I had braced for the decree to be heavy, the way you brace for a wave you have watched coming for a long time.