Chapter 3: The Encrypted Signal in Marcus's Study

Three days after the swearing-in, the White House sent a memo.

It came through the Office of the First Family Liaison, a department that Daniel had not known existed until it materialized in his inbox at 8:47 in the morning, its subject line reading *Personal Effects — Residence Coordination* in the institutional font of an organization that had already absorbed the presidency's grief into its operational calendar. The memo was two paragraphs. The second paragraph noted that the family residence would be prepared for incoming occupancy beginning the following Monday, and that any personal items not retrieved by Friday at 5 PM would be catalogued and placed in secure White House storage. It was signed by a Deputy Liaison Coordinator whose name Daniel did not recognize.

He read it twice. Then he forwarded it to no one and drove to the White House alone.