Miss Banning’s house was a modest brownstone along the quieter eastern end of Capitol Avenue. As she rang the bell, Concordia braced herself for the meeting, squaring her shoulders and settling her spectacles more firmly upon her nose. She had dressed carefully, choosing her best traveling suit of dark gray, the bolero jacket trimmed in decorative buffalo-red braiding with velvet-faced lapels of the same accent color. She hoped that she looked the part of a junior colleague. She wasn’t sure she felt that way.
A woman much too old for parlor maid duties helped Concordia remove her hat and scarf. Concordia glanced around the narrow hall. It was furnished simply, with a single high-back chair, umbrella stand, hat rack, and small table. The floor was bare. Obviously, not a front entra
