Chapter 15: Cleansing the Stain
Inside the wood-paneled room, McGauran stares at his reflection in the wide, bronze-framed mirror hanging above the porcelain wash basin. His dark eyes stare back at him, troubled, but clear. He bends and rinses his face again, and then pats it dry with the soft embroidered linen towel. He looks around the strange room. Where can he deposit this? He leaves the towel on the edge of the basin.
He really made a mess of his life today. After that talk with Widow Leary in the morning, he left the house without having any food and walked to the docks in the heat. It didn’t take but a few hours before he was fighting with his boss and another before he was fired. He spent the afternoon at the tavern, doing exactly what he despises in other weak men: drinking and
