When they went back home, Chau and Edana both dived for the telephone in the living room and frantically dialed the number given in the heading of the stiff parchment paper letter. They could not afford to be sued, and even if this was an outsize threat they had to neutralize it immediately.

“I still don’t get it!” Edana said. “How did the man get another letter?”

“We can only hope,” Chau said, in between dialing numbers, “that he understands that whatever happened, it was a misunderstanding. We never intended to contact him.”

“He won’t believe us,” Edana said. “We’re too convenient.”

“And he’s too pompous.” Chau held the phone at an arm’s length. The ring blared through the old phone they hadn’t the heart (or enthusiasm) to replace. “A double threat.”