She gave the smallest possible nod.

“Then that’s what we’re doing,” I said.

PART 5

Elise did not begin by asking whether Curtis was a monster.

She asked where Sadie slept, who supervised her medicines, how decisions about her care were made, and whether either of us feared returning home.

I realized how much I had come to accept without putting words to it.

Curtis controlled the household checking account.

He approved purchases above fifty dollars.