Jack felt a bit of relief, as Laurie’s voice sounded less strained than usual. Perhaps it had been a good day. When it had been a bad day, Jack could always hear it in her tone.

After stashing his bike in a custom-sized front-hall closet and hanging up his leather jacket, he slipped off his shoes, put on his slippers, and climbed upstairs. As he had expected, Laurie and JJ were in the kitchen. On the surface, it looked like a normal domestic scene. JJ was on his back in the playpen, reaching for the mobile suspended above him. Except for his slightly bulging eyes and the dark circles below them, he looked like any baby. Laurie was at the sink, preparing artichokes for their evening meal. Except for her pale skin and the dark circles under her eyes that rivaled JJ’s, she looked terrific. Her lustrous brown hair glinted with auburn highlights.

Noticing Jack’s gaze, she said, “JJ let me take a shower! He’s had a better day today than any other day this week. I feel like I’ve been on vacation.”

“That’s fabulous,” Jack said.

Laurie rinsed her hands and dried them on her apron as she walked over to Jack and enveloped him in her arms. For a full minute, the husband and wife embraced, speaking volumes without words. Laurie was the first to pull back to give Jack a peck on the lips. Then she went back to the sink and the artichokes.

“How was your day?” she asked. “How’s your crusade going?”

Jack thought for a moment about what to say. The day had been irritating and exhilarating. He’d gone from squabbling with Lou and Vinnie to lunching with the archbishop and meeting Shawn at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

“Cat got your tongue?”

“It’s been a full day,” Jack said, but he didn’t know where to go from there. His promise to James not to tell Laurie about the ossuary put him in a fix, because it was the only thing he wanted to tell her. He didn’t want to revisit his embarrassing behavior with Lou and Vinnie, and if he mentioned Shawn and the museum, he’d have to bring up the ossuary.

“Well, was it good full or bad full?”

“A little of both.”

Laurie leaned her hands on the edge of the sink. “So I guess you don’t want to talk about your day.”

“Sort of,” Jack said evasively. He felt penned in. “I’ve kinda given up on the crusade idea.”

“Why?”