Chapter 21: Holmes and Brenner, Unmediated

The letter arrived at the hardware store on a Tuesday, which Holmes had spent cataloguing the gate's oscillation pattern against the Upside-Down map and watching El eat a third box of Eggo waffles with the focused satisfaction of someone who has recently learned that food is available in excess and is taking no chances. The envelope bore the Hawkins municipal seal and a return address that resolved, after two telephone calls Holmes placed from the library payphone, to the Department of Energy's regional liaison office in Indianapolis — which, when Holmes rang that number, connected to a desk that did not answer on Tuesday mornings.

He had been expecting it for four days.

He read the letter once, set it down, picked it up and read it again, then folded it along its original creases with the care of a man who intends to produce the document later under conditions its author will find unwelcome.