Chapter 36: Revised Scope

Callum started with South Park because it was the one nobody had read out of a ledger. He had found a half gallon of exterior primer behind the tool case, and a roller on the same shelf, and he had covered the last word of the van's slogan before Sau-lin finished reading the can. The rear doors stood open on what was left of his business: iron nails in divided boxes, copper mesh, salt in sealed tubs, and above the narrow bunk a row of clipboards, each fitted with a form that reduced the dead to observed effects and recommended actions. "Pale gray," she said. "It was supposed to match a client's trim." "Did it?" "It matched the invoice." WE MAKE HOUSES QUIET had run in black capitals under the company name for six years. He had approved the font, the spacing, and the discount for putting the same lie…