Despite being younger than my grandmother, they seemed to share a similar kind of equanimity. Maybe Aunt Esha’s came from being a barrister, aka a lawyer (which I only knew because I spent what little free time I had at Barrington streaming British murder shows on my laptop), though Arthur had once bragged that she was a powerful diplomat. There was probably overlap. All I did know was if I was in the witness box and she was asking me questions—“Where were you on the night of . . . ?”—I would confess everything even if I was nowhere near wherever it was. She was that intense.

There was something to that Chakrabarti DNA.

Dr. Raymond gave her a quick once-over, from her stylish haircut to the expensive if unassuming dark leather ankle boots, then redirected the full force of his attention to Grandma Jo.

“How’re the fillings holdin’ up?”

“Perfect. Thank you.”

He explained to Aunt Esha, “Last month I swapped out the dental amalgam in Jo’s back lower-right second molar for composite. That’s another way of sayin’ white. Can’t see ’em. Stealth!”

He waved his hand, palm down, smooth.

Aunt Esha glanced at Grandma Jo. “Congratulations,” she murmured, her accent fully English. She and Grandma Jo held each other’s gaze a beat longer, each with seemingly blank expressions. But I could tell they were both a shimmering instant from cracking up. I really hoped they would.

Dr. Raymond kept going, nodding to the decorations.

“Place sure looks great! Love those nutcrackers!”

Aunt Esha dropped her gaze to the floor and rubbed the side of her nose while Grandma Jo looked back to him.

“Thank you, Dean. You know how much I adore this time of the year.”

“I sure do! And funny you should mention that, because I went out toward Blanchard the other day to pay a visit to Mrs. Greely and as I was drivin’ back I passed by the ol’ Sedgewick ranch and you will not believe what they’re advertisin’.”

Grandma Jo played along. “What?”

“Reindeer!”

I bolted to full attention. “Reindeer?”

Dr. Raymond turned his big smile to me. “Reindeer!”

Arthur said, “Reindeer?” as he came down the stairs behind me.

Dr. Raymond smiled at Arthur. “Reindeer!”

Ayisha appeared behind Arthur, also on the stairs, and frowned. “Why’s everyone saying ‘reindeer’?”

I frowned at Ayisha as she moved to stand beside Arthur, because when the hell had those two met? It was like a Marvel movie sequel where villains from previous films unexpectedly unite with nefarious intent.

Ayisha caught my scowl before I could quickly look back to the still-delighted Dr. Raymond, who, loving being the center of attention, was fairly bouncing on the balls of his feet.

“The Sedgewicks got themselves a few real reindeer from a fella over in Bristow and now they got ’em on display for Christmas—the holiday,” he clarified unnecessarily. “And folks can come by to see ’em if they want.”