As these examples show, a common theme of these stories is the mysterious power of truth and deception. In "Widows," Leary demands payment for a debt that does not exist; Catherine accepts the lie in the interest of preserving her dead husband's reputation. In "Lost Ground," the family and the community know that Milton was murdered with the complicity of his own brother, but this truth will never be openly admitted. The criminals in "A Bit of Business," will succeed in their petty crime unless the old man comes forth as a witness. And Gilbert's mother, knowing instinctively that all evidence in the story points to her son as a serial killer, will keep her secret at the cost of other lives.
The complex interweaving of a series of deceptions is most evident in "The.....
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