At 1:47 A.M., A Call From A Police Station Turned A Routine Arrest Into A Reckoning That Reached Boston

clothes from the dresser, phone cradled between ear and shoulder. “It’ll take about two hours. Don’t say anything else to anyone until I get there. If they try to question you, tell them politely that you’re waiting for your grandmother.”

“Okay,” he whispered, sounding younger than sixteen. “Please hurry, Grandma.”

As I hung up, the practiced calm I’d continue reading …