Three Weeks After Lucas Was Gone, Charles Claimed the House on Maple Street

He looked at the bassinet.

“Clara Louise?”

“For Lucas’s grandmother,” I said.

“My mother is Clara,” Ruiz said.

“She’ll like that.”

For a second the room was just a room with a baby in it.

Then Franklin Hayes came in at ten past two with his wire-rimmed glasses and a bank folder under his arm.

He set the folder on the table and didn’t sit down.