And a medical evaluation of Mr.

Cardew, taken forty-eight hours before he met the notary, confirming full competency.” Mr.

Hollingworth’s face didn’t move, but his fingers stopped tapping.

I had met Bettina Merriman four years earlier, on an estate matter that had nothing to do with my own family, and I had hired her the way you hire the surgeon other surgeons quietly recommend.

She was not theatrical.

She did not make speeches, and she never promised more than the paper could deliver.