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Faraday.
    “Hello, Christopher. Have you meet Carrie Kingsford? She was a friend of your father’s from his college days.”
    “Hello. I saw you at the funeral, but I didn’t get to introduce myself because Grandmother made me go right to the car.” Christopher held out his hand. “I wanted to talk to you about the letter my dad left you.”
    Carrie looked into the young eyes of Christopher and saw someone she once knew. She ignored these thoughts and said, “Nice to meet you,” as she shook his hand. “You said your father was working on a story at the time of his…” She stopped.
    “You can say it…death. I’m not a two-year-old. I understand what happened and, I know a lot about my dad’s work.”
    “Was he working for someone else?” Stone asked sarcastically, “Because he had no assignments from me.”
    “It wasn’t exactly an assignment. He was working on a book.” Christopher rushed his second sentence so much it was hard to understand him.
    “Did you say a book? What was this book about? A memoir of his years abroad?” asked Stone smiling at the boy.
    An annoyed look momentarily showed on Christopher’s face, and then he continued directing his comments to Carrie. “It was going to be sort of a mystery. A true mystery, based on stuff he discovered in Europe.”
    Carrie looked at Stone. “And what stuff did your father discover?”
    “I’m not really sure. He just told me that he discovered stuff he thought would make a good book, but he needed to check things out in TriCity. Plus, TriCity would be a good place for me to go to school, and Grandma’s home would be a good place to live.”
    “This seems like a very serious business discussion,” Charles said as he and Joel approached. “Are we interrupting?”
    “Hello, Charles . Christopher was just telling us that his father was working on a crime book,” summarized Stone.
    “Christopher, your grandmother wants you to meet some fo lks,” Charles said. “They’re in the living room.”
    Christopher ’s face changed to disappointment, and he looked to Carrie for support. He clearly wanted to stay the center of the current conversation.
    “We’ll have plenty of time to talk later,” Carrie said as she gently placed her hand on his shoulder. “Your grandmother has invited me to stay here in the house.”
    Christopher brightened at this news and headed to the other room.
    “We have to give Christopher a little leeway,” Charles said. “Since he’s been home, his stories about his adventures with his father are growing by leaps and bounds.”
    “Isn’t there a possibility Jamie did return home to work on a book?” Carrie asked Stone.
    “This is the first I’ve heard of a book,” Stone said. “But I’m sure if Jamie was going to write a book, it would center on his experiences during his years in London. As I suggested, more of a memoir about politics, people, and places. Somehow I can’t imagine true crime as the subject. It just wasn’t Jamie’s field.”
    “Christopher mentioned that Jamie needed to come home ‘to check things out.’ That sounds like whatever he was writing had a TriCity connection,” suggested Carrie.
    “Of course anything is possible, but the subject never came up with me. Jamie had barely unpacked his papers and put his studio in working order before he died. Speaking of papers, here’ s Hugh Simpson. Hugh, over here.” Stone waved to a man who entered the study from the hallway. Carrie recognized him as the man with Stone earlier.
    “Hugh, this is Carrie Kingsford,” introduced Charles.
    “Hello, my dear. Such a sad time, but it is a pleasure to meet you.” He took her hand and gently squeezed it. There was something warm and genuine about Hugh Simpson that Carrie liked immediately.
    “Has anyone mentioned the letter that Jamie left?” Simpson asked seriously.
    They all looked from one to the other, and Carrie giggle d.
    “I think everyone attending this gathering has mentioned