Was that . . . The packaging was unmistakable. She carried it around with her every day. Why would she be holding a bottle of Mendacium at Milly’s party? She scanned her memory. Maybe she was talking to someone about work? That wouldn’t be right. She made sure she left work at work, even more so during a family event.

Daniel inclined his head and waited for her to speak. Now she needed an answer—one she didn’t have.

“What do you see in that photo?” Daniel finally asked.

So he had seen it. Kelly frowned.

Daniel reached into the briefcase and withdrew something Kelly had seen for years but never held. Gramps’s camera. Daniel held it out to her as his voice rose with excitement. “He let no one touch his camera when he was alive, but he wanted me to have it. Not Mom. Me. I took it to work to show Peter, and he pointed out that all the photos have been taken. Do you know what that means?”

The weight settled onto Kelly’s palm. Her fingers brushed an inscription on the bottom of the camera: No matter what you think you might see, the camera never lies. She peered at the tiny red F behind a miniature plastic window. “Gramps’s last photos.”

“That’s right. The last photos he ever took. He’s gone, but there’s one last thing he wants me to do.” Daniel reached for the camera. “So now I need to find somewhere to get his film processed. I don’t even know where Gramps went for that. I might get Monique to find a place tomorrow.”

Kelly’s breath crawled out from between her teeth at the mere mention of Daniel’s perky young receptionist.

Daniel threw his hands into the air. “Seriously, Kelly, every time I mention the people at work—”

Another flash of gold caught in the downlights. Kelly nodded at one cuff. “Are they a gift for Gramps’s passing? From her?”

The elephant in the room. One of many. Conversations between them were becoming like a perilous night drive through a safari park. A delicate journey to avoid spooking the great beasts and being trampled. Kelly could almost feel Daniel’s cogs whirring. His silence was loud. “I see.”

Daniel reddened, and Kelly prepared herself for another round of a never-ending argument. Her eyes drifted up the stairs to the closed door to Milly’s room. She didn’t need to hear this again. Not today.

She saw that tears had welled in Daniel’s eyes. “It’s been a trying day, so let’s not fight.”

He clicked his fingers. “Also, with our thousandth client case coming to the practice since Howard left us, we’re holding a work dinner to celebrate. What do you think about hosting it here? You could cater . . .”