The Attorney [antikvár]

CHAPTER ONE I can trace it back with precision to one of those fitful weeks in August, when the thermometer hit triple digits for the tenth day in a row. Even the humidity was high; unusual for Capital City. The air conditioner in my car had died and at six-fifteen, traffic on the Interstate was stalled behind an overturned truck-and-trailer rig filled with tomatoes on their way to the Campbell's plant. I would be late picking up Sarah from the sitter's. Even with this as background, it was an impulsive move. Ten minutes after I got home, I called a realtor I knew and asked the fateful question. How much can I get for the house? Would you come by for an appraisal? The real estate market was heating up, like the weather, so in this respect my timing was good. Sarah was out of school, in that awkward gap between fifth grade and middle school, and not lookmg forward to the switch. Her best friends - twm sisters her same age -were in the southern part of the state. I'd met their mother