Monday, April 6
11:20 A.M.
"Mr. Bartlett asked me to give you this," Kenji Noda said handing her a large manila envelope as they stepped off the
elevator. "It's a copy of the original plans. And also, there's a blueprint for the current layout, along with measurements."
She took it, looking him over again as she did. There was something very fluid about his motions. He could have been a dancer. There was a softness about him, and yet you got an unmistakable sense of inner strength. She suspected he had something to do with Bartlett's incredible collection of Japanese katana. He looked like he could have a connoisseur's eye.
She walked into the below‑stairs service space and looked around. The back part, which was the kitchen, had stone walls that had been whitewashed. There also were two massive fireplaces, which, she assumed, had once housed coal‑burning stoves. Large grease‑and‑soot‑covered gas ranges were there now.
But the space was fabulous. Massive load‑bearing columns went down the center, and a partition separated the front half of the space from the back. The front traditionally would have been the nursery and sewing room, in short, the maids' working quarters.
She turned to the man Bartlett had called Ken.
"Does Mr. Bartlett have a cook?" she asked. "This kitchen doesn't look used."
"No," he said. "Actually, he almost never dines here, and Mrs. Bartlett has her meals delivered from various restaurants. Though she does go out sometimes as well."