I went into the living room, where Helen was curled up in a chair, watching television.
“I haven’t seen them, Joe,” she said. “They must be where you left them.”
It was exactly the kind of answer I should have expected.
“Bill might know,” I said.
“He’s scarcely been in the house all day. When he does show up, you’ve got to speak to him.”
“What’s the matter now?”
“It’s this trading business. He traded off that new belt we got him for a pair of spurs.”
“I can’t see anything wrong in that. When I was a kid…”
“It’s not just the belt,” she said. “He’s traded everything.
And the worst of it is that he always seems to get the best of it.”