HER BROTHER WOULD never have got her involved if not for the dog. Stuart, she knew, thought she had a way with the dog. This might have been only because she and the dog occupied similar situational status in the family. Semi-domesticated, prone to impulsive decisions and unseemly hungers. Objects of occasional indulgence but mostly embarrassment. 

Stuart said nothing on the phone about the cops. He said very little about anything and didn’t even mention their mother. All he did was drop the name of their childhood street from a certain height.