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It was becoming clearer. She took a breath, held it again.

Enoughchuffenoughchuffenoughenoughenough

Even clearer now. She felt a wave of expectation rush through her, as though she were on the brink of a great discovery. If she were to have looked at a clock, she would have learned that she had been sitting down here for more than three hours.

Enoughisenoughisenoughisenoughisenoughisenough

And there it was.

Enough is enough.

She sat back up in the chair, nodding to herself. The words were a revelation. No, not a revelation.

They were aconfirmation.

They told her everything she already knew to be true. She’d been living this lie for far too long. This was no life. How could she continue such an existence? There came a time when you had to decide how much more you were willing to endure, how much more you were going to take.

Enoughwasenough.

She got up from the chair and turned back the throttle. The locomotive came to a stop. She flipped a switch to turn off the transformer, disconnected the wires that led from it to the track, then unplugged the unit from the wall, looping the cord about it. She took up to the kitchen the coffee mug and the plate that was now littered with chocolate chip muffin crumbs, put them into the dishwasher, and, seeing that she had a pretty full load in there, filled the detergent dispenser with some powdered Calgonite, closed the door, and hit theonbutton.

She returned to the basement and found a short extension cord. She took it, as well as the unplugged transformer—which was heavier than she expected it to be—to the second floor of the house. She set them on the bed, then went into the bathroom, shoved the stopper into the bathtub drain, and turned on the taps.

She held her hand under the running water, adjusting the two knobs to get the temperature just right. She liked a hot bath, but not too hot. Once she had the water flowing into the tub at the desired temperature, she returned to the bedroom and disrobed.

Naked, she went back into the bathroom, taking the extension cord and the transformer with her. She set them on the counter next to the sink, then dipped her hand into the water to see how it felt.

Perfect. She turned off the taps, giving them both a good twist to make sure they would not drip.

Nadine knew the transformer cord would be too short for her purposes, which was why she had brought along the short extension. She plugged it into an outlet by the sink, the one she used for her hair dryer and curling iron and toothbrush charger. Then she plugged the transformer cord into its other end and set the transformer on the edge of the tub at the end close to the taps.

She turned the transformer on, then turned the throttle to the maximum setting. It made a low-level buzzing noise. The red light on top glowed brightly.

Nadine put one foot into the tub, then the other, then slowlylowered herself into the water. She stretched out, the water coming up to her neck.

The transformer continued to buzz.

Nadine raised her left leg out of the water and touched her big toe to the outer edge of the transformer.

“Enough is enough,” she said to herself, then nudged the transformer slowly to the edge until it tipped and dropped into the water with a splash.

Twenty-One

“What time did you get home, Mr. Comstock?” Harry Cook asked.

“Uh, I guess around five,” Wendell said.

They were standing in the upstairs bedroom. Wendell’s wife’s clothes were on the bed.

“And you’d been where, again?”

“I’d driven over to Brattleboro. Got a friend there, he’s thinking of making an offer on a house, and he wanted me to have a look at it.”

“You do house inspections?”

“No. But I have a background in construction. Not lately, and I’m not the world’s biggest expert, but I know a little.”

“What’s this friend’s name?”