Chapter 4: The Hall in Daylight

Back at their building, Eli Finch carried the tools upstairs and set them inside her door. She paid him, and he put the money away without waiting for her to describe what it was for.

“Good luck with the rest of the essay.”

“I’ll need it.”

He went next door. She took off her coat and carried her handbag to the kitchen. The radiator was warm; her fingertips hurt a little as they thawed.

Her phone showed a message from Nora Bell. She opened it at the table.

“Just confirming Thursday at four. I have to collect groceries before then, so please don’t come early. I’ll be home in time to let you in.”

Ada Mercer read it again. There was no account of a worsening noise, no new part of the instrument to consider. She opened the appointment book. Thursday at four was what she had written.

She typed, “Four is fine. Thank you,” and sent it.

For a moment her thumb rested above the screen. Then she sent Eli Finch a message asking whether he could still come on Thursday after school. She left the phone beside the book and filled the kettle.

His answer arrived while she was getting a cup down. “Yes. Four?”

She confirmed the time.

The smaller instruction beneath the appointment remained: middle note, check. She closed the book and moved it away from the place where she would eat. Then she cut bread, put it on a plate, and sat down while the kettle warmed.