And lately he had begun selling things off, and had listed the house.

They were preparing to leave the country — Radley, Tamsyn, and Percy — and to leave Sidonie padlocked in the gatehouse once the money stopped coming.

That was what Percy had overheard.

That was the laughter about Grandpa’s last transfer.

A child had heard two adults joke about the final draining of his grandfather, and about leaving his mother in a locked shed, and had carried it, alone, until a bench in a park.

The District Attorney authorized a controlled operation.