I looked Pamela in the eyes and asked her, directly, whether she had ever told Hannah to hide photographs, or stop mentioning Rebecca, or stay away during conversations about future children.

Her total silence answered me.

And then Hannah spoke, quietly, from behind me.

“She put Mom’s picture in a kitchen drawer last month,” she said.

“She told me not to bother you about it because you were busy.” A specific memory returned to me at once: Hannah’s favorite photograph, gone from the refrigerator, and Pamela saying it had probably fallen behind the counter.

“What else did she ask you not to tell me, Hannah?” I asked softly.