“Why?”

She did not answer.

I held it against my bag, then placed it on the table rather than allowing the object to become a struggle between us.

We would discuss the phone and the belongings.

I was not going to decide every question about Patrick’s private records or estate by taking something because I was his wife.

But I was entitled to ask why she had told me it did not exist where it plainly existed.

The boy appeared near the stairs.