When finished in the kitchen, I had the rest of the evening to myself. I was free to peruse the house without anyone looking over my shoulder. Many of my clients had indoor security cameras, but I wasn’t surprised that the Straubs didn’t. Cameras would interfere with the exquisite lines of their design. I walked into the library and toward the far wall of bookshelves. I looked through each shelf methodically and stopped whenever I came to a book that had been read several times. Without stepping away, I would remove the book and read a few pages, then flip through to see if anyone had written something in it. I put it back in the exact same spot.

I’d expected to find a lot of books on architecture and art, which I did: exquisite large, heavy books with thick glossy pages and saturated photos. Many cost more than a hundred dollars. They were the kinds of books most people would display on a coffee table, but the Straubs had too many to display.

I moved to the side bookshelves and found a few how-to and self-help books on the bottom shelf close to the wall. Next to them was a stack of several books with the spines facing away from the room. I picked up the stack and turned it over. They were all books about fertility. I removed one from the shelf and flipped through it. In the chapter titled “Miscarriage,” several pages in a row were dog-eared. Someone had written in the margins: blood clotting disorder, ask Metzger. Based on a few dates in the margins, I surmised that Amelia had had four miscarriages, all of which had happened after the birth of Natalie. It was helpful information. I sensed it would serve me to learn as much as possible about this family, in case a time came when they needed my support.

In the kitchen, I opened a utility closet and found a Miele vacuum, brooms, and more cleaning supplies, arranged in perfect rows. A second door led to an inviting space I had not yet seen, apparently a home office with one entire wall of glass doors. The office opened up to a shallow deck that wrapped around the back of the house, too, and a spiral staircase led down to the backyard.