“The cane?” she asked, staring at the wolf’s head topper.

“My father almost beat me to death with it once. Sweetest thing he ever did for me.”

She didn’t like that answer, and she didn’t like me. To be fair, I didn’t need to be so sour about it. It was an innocent question. Near as I can tell, she’s even an innocent girl. Which is why I agreed to help her. That was about nine hours ago, way back in my office. What a difference nine hours can make.