Chapter Four
In Sutter’s Back Room
The back room at Sutter’s was surprisingly large, a dimly-lit cavern that was cluttered from floor to ceiling with stock, old books and new, paperbacks, and hardbacks and dusty volumes bound in leather. Full-length shelves of books lined the walls, and stacks of cardboard cartons were left where they had been opened, forming a labyrinthine maze from the entrance to an ancient desk, massive and solid, and flanked by a pair of old oak filing cabinets. Before the desk, some space had been cleared around a sturdy trestle table, piled high with paper, glue pots, and oversized volumes. Discarded paperbacks were stacked to precarious heights; those that had tumbled over were left where they fell, littering the floor. To provide access to the topmost shelves, a
