He sat back and formed a steeple with his hands, a typical pose when he was thinking. Nicole opened her file and turned to Clayne. “Only four things seem out of the ordinary, really. There are typical patterns, such as visits with Dr. Cameron, walks in the park, movies—”

“He’s like a kid about movies,” Clayne broke in. “That and ice cream.”

“Well,” Nicole went on, “I checked the last two weeks, and four unusual things caught my eye. Or better, two patterns and two one-only items—a trip to the Nielsen Building and Lumber Company, and a trip with Clayne’s family to Glacier Park and Hungry Horse Dam.”

Clayne spoke up. “Both of those were with me. He said he wanted to see the park and the dam, so we made it a family outing. He seemed to really enjoy it, but he didn’t do anything strange. And I was with him when he went to the lumberyard. He bought a large redwood burl and a two-foot length of two-by-twelve board.”

“A redwood burl?” Nicole said.

“Yes. A burl is a knot in the wood. In redwood trees, some of them get huge. He paid a bundle for it, because the lumberyard can get them only occasionally from traders coming in from the West Coast.”

“What does he want with a knothole?” Nicole said.

“Not a knothole,” Travis said with a smile. “It’s the knot itself, a twisted, gnarled piece of wood where the branch once tied into the main trunk.”

“He wants to carve it,” Clayne added. “Once they’re shaped and polished, they’re very beautiful. In fact, he’s already working on it.”

The Major leaned forward. “What is he carving it with?”

“A set of woodcarving tools,” Travis answered. “I authorized Clayne to let him buy them.”

“Are they dangerous tools?”

Travis shook his head. “Not really. I mean, they’re sharp but not like a dagger or a butcher knife or something. He asked for permission to get them, and I agreed. He carved all the time in the village. He’s really quite good.”

That seemed to satisfy the Major, and he leaned back again. “Okay, Nicole, what about the two unusual patterns of behavior?”

“In the last two weeks he has suddenly started visiting the university library and also the Museum of Remembrance.”

“Travis and I were just checking those two things,” the Major said. “It’s very interesting. Travis, tell them what we found.”

“Well, he made his first visit to the library a week ago yesterday. He’s made four additional visits since, averaging about an hour to an hour and a half each.”

“Eric’s mentioned some novels he’s reading,” Clayne said