Fresco found Medley in the kitchen, hunched over a broken plate, scooping up the pieces in a worn dishtowel. She continued to swear, her gray head bent, round little body squatting close to the tiles.

"Stupid, wretched, moronic-" She broke off, though from the scrunched expression on her pale and wrinkled face she was still cursing inside her head.

He fetched some distant pieces without a word and went looking for the broom. She looked up at him and ...