with my hand still near the banister. “Why?”
“Vivian asked me whether Karen had called you.”
That was enough to send me back toward the office. Daniel was bent over a set of engineering drawings, one hand holding a ruler against a line while the other marked a measurement in pencil. His phone lay beside a stack of papers.
“Call her,” I said.
He looked up. “Now?”
“Now.”
He moved the ruler aside. “You want me to?”
“I want to know what your mother has been telling her.”
Daniel gave me the small nod he used when he knew I had already made the decision. He handed me his phone, but I shook my head.
“I’ll call from mine.”
Karen answered on the fourth ring.
“Hi, Elena.”
“Karen, can I ask you something?”
There was water running on her end. A cabinet door closed.
“Sure.”
“Has your mother been talking
