“He sits right at my little dining table with his yellow notepad.”

The front hall smelled of mint tea and furniture polish.

“Did he tell you why he came back to Oak Ridge so early?” I asked.

“Two whole weeks before the reunion?”

Mrs.

Carter put the soup jar on her kitchen counter beside a folded napkin.

“He said he had to go over the financial records at Marshall Technologies,” she said quietly.

“Before any of the closing paperwork was finished.”