.” I struggled for words. “I mean, Karen is such a lovely little girl. How could anyone not love her?”“Well, there we are. Perhaps you have so...e idea of what I was like before Roger died.”Saturday, the next day, they picked me up from the boatyard and, suitably equipped with weekend bags, we set off for Peterborough.A little diversion, here. My parents, much as I love them, had me late; they are quiet, reserved, old-fashioned. I didn’t anticipate any problem, but likewise didn’t quite know how. She slid my head into the center of the machine and told me that I would be hearing some drumming sounds. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep. I was woken up with what seemed a few moments later and was told they would be giving me a gallium dye that would show my brain better. I told here there was nothing there."We'll see about that," she said in a business like manner."You don't understand. There's nothing there. I've lost my marbles years ago." I pointed to my scalp. "Besides all my. I had a few hours to get things done and then disappear to the office so that my wife could have some alone time with Prem to explain that she was moving back in with me, her husband.My first task was to start the laundry. I gathered my own clothes, and then ventured into Prem’s room to bring the baskets over to the laundry room. There were clothes all over, on the bed, beside the bed, on the floor, evidence of the orgy party that I was not invited to. Not one of them had taken care to put. Suspicion, however, was not yet a big part of her nature. She had no reason to suspect her parents of doing anything drastic to her, certainly nothing physical. They were closed-minded, mean-spirited, suspicious, paranoid - the list of their passive faults was very long. But there was no reason to suspect them of any form of violence.What had changed in the case of the retreat was the introduction of money into the situation. The Halls had paid thousands of dollars to have their daughter.