Her dramatic, whiny pitch climbed higher at the mention of the heavy lifting.

“Those bookshelves are bolted into the studs,” I said.

“Arthur put them up himself in 1994.”

“Vance bought a crowbar at the hardware store,” she said.

“He says he can pop them right off the plaster.”

“That’ll rip the wall apart.”

“The drywall guys are coming anyway,” she said.

“Vance pulled something in his back just from looking at them,” Chloe said.