He wiped his greasy hands on the thighs of his blue jeans and waved to us from the lawn.

“That frame will hold two hundred pounds easy,” Brandon said, walking across the grass to sit on the bottom step two feet away from me.

“Arthur Pendelton called me at eight this morning,” I said.

Brandon paused, looking down at his dark work boots.

“What did the prosecutor say about Christopher?” Brandon asked.

“The judge denied bail completely,” I said.

“Christopher is being held in the county jail on five counts of fraud and attempted murder.”