Nana found Todd's staff when it struck her metal knee from between the sixth and seventh steps.
The capsule section had been forced crosswise through two pieces of Griswald's wooden stair. One tread came from a palace service flight. The other still carried yellow paint and a child's mud print near the wall.
Todd's boot had split the painted edge. A fresh groove crossed the staff where a metal jaw had tried to close around it.
Three dark drops marked the lower tread. Nana touched one with her living hand. The blood had dried at the rim and remained soft beneath it.
Todd had gone through with an injured person and left the staff holding the route open behind them.
With her cut red climbing line looped around the capsule section and the brass marker pointing below, Nana drew the staff half an inch from the wood.
Griswald's entire stair leaned toward the judgment gate.
