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"That's true," I said, and it was.

"OK," Detective Wilson said, only now letting go of my hand. I put it in my pocket before he could decide to take it back. He turned to my father. "So why don't you show me that letter."

"Letter," my father said, and nodded. This was clearly something they'd spoken of before I'd arrived: all three seemed at ease with the fact of this letter's existence and with the prospect of Detective Wilson's taking a look at it. It was clearly something they'd already agreed upon. My father got up from the couch and lurched in the direction of his bedroom, and Detective Wilson followed him. From inside the bedroom, I could hear Detective Wilson ask my father, "Do you always keep the letters in this box? In this drawer?" I could hear my father mutter something affirmative. My mother remained on the couch and stared glumly into her coffee cup. "I could use a drink," she said. "A real drink."

"So," I said, again attempting to sound casual and unconcerned, but no doubt failing, as I picked up a napkin off the coffee table and began strangling it out of nervousness, "what letter is this Detective Wilson looking for?"

"You remember that box of letters your father has, from all those people wanting you to burn down those houses?" my mother said, still looking in dismay at her coffee cup. "There's one in there from some man wanting you to burn down the Edward Bellamy House. That's the letter he's looking for."

"So you know about those letters?"

"Oh, yes," she said.

"And Detective Wilson knows about those letters?"

"Oh, yes," my mother said again.

"How does he know about them?" I asked.

"Your father told him."

"He did?" There had been a little too much something in my voice ― if I'd known exactly what it was, then maybe I'd have been able to keep it out of there in the first place. But whatever it was, my mother heard it. She raised her eyes from her cup, looked at me first with incredulity, then with pity.

"You thought it was just the two of you, didn't you?" she asked. "That the letters were your little secret." Before I could confirm this, my mother shook her head violently, as if to get me out of her head, as if I were one more unwelcome thought she did not want to get lost in.

But then again, I had plenty of new, unwelcome thoughts to get lost in myself. Someone besides me and my father and the letter writers knew about the letters ― that was news enough. But what would Detective Wilson say when he found out that Mr. Frazier's letter was missing? What would my father say, and my mother? Would I tell them the truth about Mr. Frazier and how he'd taken the letter? What if the truth sounded like a lie to them, as it surely would? What lie could I tell that would sound less like a lie than the truth?

"Well," Detective Wilson said, emerging from my father's bedroom. My father was right behind him: his eyes darted to me, then to my mother, then to me again, and then back to his bedroom, before he closed them, his eyes exhausted from all that exercise. Detective Wilson paused to let my father resume his place by my mother on the couch; he then looked at each of us in turn ― first wide eyed and then squinty, which I think was supposed to convey suspicion but instead made him look as though he were having contact-lens problems. Detective Wilson seemed to be waiting for one of us to say something, just as I was waiting for him to say, The letter is missing. Which after some further eye contortions, he finally did.

My father didn't say anything: he had been in the room, of course, and so already knew that the letter was missing. His eyes were still closed and I wondered if he'd fallen asleep. My mother and I didn't say anything, either. We looked straight forward, at the detective, maybe to avoid looking at each other.

"It certainly is," Detective Wilson said, perhaps responding to something he'd hoped one of us would say. "Do any of you know where the letter is?"

"No," my father said. His eyes were still closed, but he said