My brush was finishing the left nostril of the Madonna when the call came. From long practice, I ignored the ringing and smoothly completed the stroke on the board. Painted in the late 15th century, the portrait’s age demanded respect, even from a modern device.

I stepped back from the painting and examined my restoration work with a critical eye. Nice. I turned off the lamp.

I was cleaning my brushes when the phone rang for the third time. Wiping my hands on a towel, I tapped the phone, putting my sister on the speakerphone to hear her announcement.

“She’s dead.”

The cutting of the bond between myself and my mother early this morning had woken me from a dead sleep. I thought I was past the need for confirmation but found myself asking anyway, “It was around 1:30, wasn’t it?”

“Yes.” There was a pause before Phillipa said, her voice breaking, “Ding dong.”

I couldn’t agree more. Indeed, the witch was dead. I asked Phillipa, “What’s the plan?”

My older sister was a big planner. I imagined she would have a mental spreadsheet in her head of what she would do once our mother died. It wasn’t like she hadn’t had time to plan: our parent broken her hip a couple of months ago, and her decline since had been steady. Her long-desired death was not exactly an unexpected event.

“How soon can you get here? There are things we need to discuss as a family and not on the phone.”

“I’ll come this evening via train.”

“You sure? What about the crowds? Wouldn’t a rental car be better?”

“It’s fine. A crowd is anonymous. I’ll be okay. Besides, I let my driver’s license expire.”

Phillipa let big-sister exasperation leak into her voice. “Really, Vic? What if you needed ID?” When I didn’t respond, she gave an aggrieved sigh. “Will you stay at the house?”

“Seems easiest.”

“Liam refuses to go inside.”

My brother had a talent for psychometry, a method of reading an object’s past by touching them. I could only imagine how uncomfortable he would feel within the family home. However, a house empty of people presented no danger to my talent. I only needed to keep the right doors closed.