He did not know that respecting paper just enough, and not one ounce more, was my entire profession.

Chapter 13 — Her Legal Caregiver

“And what about my mother?” I countered, my voice tight with a rage I was working hard to keep controlled.

“She is lying unconscious on a cot in the basement.

Explain that to the police.

Explain the sedatives.”

Valerie stepped closer to Julian’s side, and I watched her arrange her face into an expression of wounded, put-upon patience, the expression of a devoted caregiver misunderstood.

“Our mother,” she said, in a voice dripping with false sorrow, “has progressive dementia.