Chapter Four: The Wardrobe Department

Tuesday, 10:30 a.m. — East Wing

Steve was escorted to the East Wing, where a gold-plated sign announced:

DEPARTMENT OF WARDROBE AND PERSONAL PRESENTATION

Inside was an enormous collection of clothing. Racks of dresses, skirts, blouses, coats, shoes, and accessories filled the room.

Behind a large desk stood Mrs. Hargrove.

She was a formidable woman in her late fifties, with carefully arranged silver-blonde hair, a navy suit, and an expression that suggested she rarely repeated herself.

"Steven Thomas?"

"Steve."

"I've read your file."

"Then you know I don't belong here."

Mrs. Hargrove ignored the remark.

"Your first assessment was less than satisfactory. Miss Parker reports considerable resistance."

"Miss Parker can write whatever she likes."

Mrs. Hargrove opened a pink folder.

"That attitude will need correcting."

She gestured toward a clothing rack.

"These are the institute's standard wardrobe selections. Every resident is expected to maintain an appropriate appearance during scheduled activities."

Steve looked at the dresses.

"This is absurd."

"Your opinion has been recorded."

She turned a page in his file.

"And I see you've already accumulated two demerits."

Steve frowned.

"Two? I only received one."

Mrs. Hargrove looked up.

"Apparently, your attitude has earned you another."

She wrote something in the ledger.

Steve had the uncomfortable feeling that the rules were being invented as he went along.

The discovery

Later, while Mrs. Hargrove was speaking with an assistant, Steve noticed a document sticking out of his personnel folder.

He caught a glimpse of a date.

Three weeks before his arrest.

And underneath it, a typed sentence:

Subject recommended for placement at Dixon Rehabilitation Institute upon conviction.

Steve's stomach tightened.

How could they have recommended him before he had even been arrested?

He looked again.

There was a signature at the bottom.

M. Whitmore.

He now had something more important than an argument with the wardrobe matron.

He had evidence.