There were no three ominous knocks.

There was just the sound of a car door in the drive, and then the front door opening, because I had told her to let herself in.

The woman who walked into that dining room did not have to raise her voice to change the temperature of the room.

She wore a gray suit and carried a scuffed leather briefcase that had plainly survived a great many rooms like this one.

Her hair was silver at the temples.