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Carpeted floor muffled footsteps yet Algernon could still hear his son’s footfall as he came up the stairs, along the hallway, slowed at the door, and then moved on to his own room. They shared a suite on the first floor: two comfortably fitted-out bedrooms with a modest sitting room between them. Algernon sat by the window of the sitting room, hands protectively over a highly polished thuja wood box. It had once been his grandfather’s, purchased in some African market on his travels, and used as a receptacle for the most precious of items: family heirlooms passed down the line to Algernon and, eventually, to Clement. He waited; his son moved around his room, the thud of shoes being kicked off, a clink of crystal, and the soft twang of bedsprings. It was nearing noon and Clement was only