““Hang on.” Molly shrugs off her army jacket and hangs it on the black iron coatrack in the corner. “What about that cup of tea?” “No time,” Vivian calls over her shoulder. “I’m old, you know. Could drop dead any minute. We’ve got to get going!” “Really? No tea?” Molly grumbles, following behind her. A curious thing is happening. The stories that Vivian began to tell only with prodding, in dutiful answer to specific questions, are spilling forth unprompted, one after another, so many that even Vivian seems surprised. “‘Who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?””
![“Sorry, old girl," I said to [my bicycle] Gladys in the gray dishwater light of early morning, "but I have to leave you at home." I could see that she was disappointed, even though she managed to put on a brave face. "I need you to stay here as a decoy," I whispered. "When they see you leaning…” quote by Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/e95/alan-bradley-1571_bicycle_sorry-old-girl-i-said-to-my-bicycle-glad_1653870.jpg)
