The space did not look threatening.

It looked neglected, with cracked white paint, an abandoned broom, and a rusted bracket where a shelf had once hung.

Yet the oldest plan showed a window on the wall that now held an ordinary cupboard.

A person could have sealed a window without any sinister intention.

A person could also have hidden a room in the process.

I closed the cupboard door and thought of Iris asking whether I intended to open the walls.

For the first time, her insistence sounded less like a preference and more like fear of a specific discovery.

ADDITIONAL CHAPTER TWO: SOPHIE’S QUESTIONS

Sophie called on Wednesday while I was sweeping dust off the stairs.

She wanted to know whether the blue paint had arrived and whether the willow still had its last yellow leaves.

I told her the paint was sitting in the garage, waiting for the carpenter to finish a stubborn patch of plaster.

She asked why repairs always seemed to produce another repair.

I laughed and admitted that old houses were skilled at keeping secrets.

She grew quiet at the word secrets.

Her mother had already told her that a police car had visited my address, because somebody in the neighborhood had posted a photograph.

Sophie wanted to know whether I had been arrested.

I set down the broom and gave her an answer that could not be misunderstood.

Nobody had arrested me, and the officers had come to investigate a disagreement about the property.

She asked whether she still had permission to spend Thanksgiving with me.

The question hurt more than anything Iris had said at my door.

I assured Sophie that her room would be ready and that she was welcome in my home regardless of unfinished paint.

She said her mother had suggested we cancel if the house did not feel safe.

I promised to discuss safety with both of them before making plans.

After the call, I phoned my former wife, Rachel, and explained the facts without the dramatic details.

Rachel did not ask me to defend my decisions as a father.

She asked whether any person had threatened Sophie directly and whether the police believed there was an immediate hazard.

I answered no to the first question and acknowledged that the second was still being assessed.

We agreed that Sophie would stay with Rachel until the property was cleared, even if that meant postponing the visit.

I hated making that decision.