They had never once seen the professional.

They had invited a forensic accountant into the very center of their crimes and then treated her as though she were incapable of counting.

The envelope on the dining table was the moment those two facts collided.

And I was already gone before it did.

I have thought often about the strange, specific gift that Wendy and Luca gave me without ever meaning to, which was their complete failure to see me — because it is a gift that a certain kind of powerful person gives, over and over, to the very people who eventually undo them, and it is worth understanding.

They did not merely underestimate my abilities.