Wake up call

The house alarm went off a little after 5 a.m Friday. I wouldn't say it scared us witless, but when the three of us - Sook Ching, Ethan, and me - staggered groggily to find out what set it off, I dare say we were more than slightly nervous. It could have been an intruder, but everything was fine, thank God. The yard door was locked, and so was the front door. We turned the alarm off and went to bed. Elliot was totally unaware, but he woke up to find his brother sharing his bed.

It was almost ten when we all woke up again and had breakfast. There was just a couple of chapters or so left of Elizabeth George's In the Presence of the Enemy, and I read furiously, racing with Lynley and Nkata to Barbara's rescue. As they say, it was unputdownable. Predictable conclusion, but unputdownable all the same. At about noon, we left for Jelapang to see John who we were told had just come out briefly of his coma (Maliga called in the morning).

When we were nearing Tanjung Malim, Nisha phoned to say that her dad had just died.