published as yet. ”
“ Yes, I tend to agree, ” he said. “ But I shall remedy that for my son ’ s sake, I assure you. ”
Sarah swallowed and forced her reply. “ He is quite a fortunate child to have such a caring father. ” The praise sat like acid within her belly, burning with her anger.
He glanced at Mel. Sarah refrained. She didn ’ t dare look at Mel, didn ’ t dare give herself away.
“ And in what capacity does Mrs. Frank serve you? ” he asked her then.
“ She is both my friend and my aid. She sometimes assists with instructions, as well. ” A greater understatement, Sarah had never uttered. Mel ’ s knowledge of the Modified Braille code and her work with the sightless would be
the key to effecting this plan. Though Sarah had anticipated havin g to teach Christopher someday—hoped to at least—she only knew the minimal. Without Mel, she ’ d never have been able to complete this ruse.
He seemed to be studying her. “ I have but a few more questions, if you might indulge me. ”
Sarah braced herself. “ Certainly. ”
He lifted up her resume , scanning it.
Sarah ’ s gut turned as he read over her lies. “ Your credentials are excellent. I ’ ve no reason to doubt them, but it is essential I understand your commi tment ... ”
He sounded all the world like a loving, caring father, but Sarah knew better. “ Of course, ” she replied.
“ Why Braille? Why not the New York Point System? ”
“ Well, ” she began, “ I must confess my resume is a bit misleading as it stands. ” She took a deep breath—it was more than a bit misleading! “ Braille is in fact the system I was primarily taught, but I am also familiar with
the New York Point System. My preference, however, is a rather new code, the Modified
Braille. ”
His brows lifted. “ Modified Braille? I ’ m afraid I am not familiar with that one. ”
“ Yes, well, it has yet to be accepted by the British Braille authorities, though it has been used with some success at the Perkin ’ s Institute in Boston. It is quite similar to Louis Braille ’ s system, but the new code ’ s key feature is that the most frequently recurring letters are represented by the
smallest number of dots. Therefore, it may be written and read more quickly. ” She glanced at Mel out of the corner of her eye and saw that she was nodding her approval. “ The New York Point System, on the other hand, ” she continued, encouraged, “ though at present it receives much favor, is a bulky and confusing system. I wouldn ’ t recommend it at all. ”
“ And so you would propose to teach my son this Modified Braille? ”
“ The choice is solely at your discretion, of course, Mr. Holland. I am merely giving
you my humble opinion. I am quite capable of instructing him in any of the codes we ’ ve discussed, but yes, I do have strong leanings toward the Modified Braille. And
yet... I should caution you to consider that most of what is published already is
published in accordance with the British Braille authorities. That does not mean,
however, it will always be so. The debate is quite heated at the moment, and there
is a diversity of opinion as to which code is actually the better code . There are strong advocates for both the New York Point System as well as the Modified,
but as yet, as I said, the British Braille authorities do not recognize either. ”
“ You certainly seem to know your work, Miss Hopkins. ”
Sarah felt nearly dizzy with relief at his approval. Not that she gave a blast what
he thought of her truly. She was merely relieved that he had accepted her story.
“ Now I would like to know why it is you are applying for this position. ”
Because she wanted to catch a murderer!
The directness of his question startled her only an instant.
She took a deep breath. “ Because I was not always blind, Mr. Holland, ” she replied, repeating the story she and Mel had rehearsed.
She came aware of the sound