Chapter Fifty-Two
September 8th, 5:08 AM
Temperature: 84 degrees
Winds: 26 MPH
Pressure: 29.731 bars
Rain: 0 inches
The last glass of amaretto had done its job well and sent Alfred off to sleep just after one o’clock, erasing the worry of the preceding day and washing away the heaviness that had ridden in his chest. Its effect had been stronger than he had anticipated and he woke up disoriented in the darkness of his room. Something pulled him out of the weightlessness of his dreams. It was only a few seconds before he made sense of his surroundings and heard the knock at his door. Mrs. Poplar’s voice was adamant, if not a little weary, as it carried from the hall. He threw off the blanket, his skin sweating against the cool wind that blew through the cracked window across the room,
