Richard laid his hand flat on the rug and looked at the two shoes lying apart from each other.

“Where is he?”

Victoria’s fingernails found the glass again and rested there.

Ethan walked in from the hall fiddling with the button on his cuff, and his voice was smooth before he’d even said anything.

“Richard.

Happy Easter.” He smiled at the room as a whole and at nobody in it.

“She took a tumble out on the patio.

That flagstone gets slippery this time of day.”