“Marcus received a call from Victor at the c/o/unty detention center.”
“How?”
“We don’t know. It lasted eleven seconds.”
“Did they record it?”
“Yes.”
“What did Victor say?”
Priya looked at me.
“Only one sentence.”
She hesitated.
“Your mother still has the key.”
After she left, I sat motionless.
Clara paced beside the window.
“What key?”
“I don’t know.”
“The farm office?”
“Luis has those keys.”
“A safe-deposit box?”
“Samuel controls it.”
“A computer password?”
I shook my head.
Then I looked down at Daniel’s wooden box.
The brass compass lay beneath his letter.
I picked it up.
The compass had always felt heavier than it should.
Daniel used to joke that it pointed toward home rather than north.
I turned it over.
A tiny seam ran around the base.
Luis noticed it too.
“Was that always there?”
“I don’t know.”
He took a coin from his pocket and carefully twisted the bottom.
