Chapter Sixteen
Wednesday afternoon was an unusual time for Brooke to turn up, but Stroud was always happy to see him and the impromptu visit was not entirely unprecedented. With unlimited time and financial resources, it was nothing for Brooke to drive miles out of his way for five minutes of idle conversation.
Stroud was working when Brooke arrived and the confines of his study were an inadequate realm for Brooke’s wild spirit. He paced the room with maniacal intensity while Stroud sat noting careful details on the index cards before him. On a week-day, business kept him close to the phone and the ponderous cards were the slow servant to a man who refused to install a computer.
Normally, Brooke’s broody restlessness served as a kind of energy elixir for Stroud, but on this day the moo
