I kept my hands folded on the folder, and I let him see that I was not afraid of him, that I had never, underneath everything, been afraid of him.

Chapter 11 — I Called the Attorney General’s Office

“I didn’t call the local police, Julian,” I said.

“I called the Special Investigations Unit of the Attorney General’s office.

Judge Thorne signed an emergency removal order and a search warrant at six o’clock this morning.”

The door opened.

A detective came in first — Marcus Kowalski, a man I’d worked cases with for years and trusted with my life — and behind him came two state troopers, a forensic accountant with a laptop bag, and two social workers from Adult Protective Services, and my brother’s grand tidy house filled up with the quiet, unhurried, irreversible presence of the state.

“Julian Vance?