Summary

In “The Witness,” the house passes two days in silence. Cornelia organizes charity boxes for the orphanage, and the cakes and pies are smaller and fewer. Johannes goes out on both nights, though no one knows where and does not want to ask. Nella examines her figure of Agnes, and notices that the tip of the miniature sugar loaf she holds has blackened. In a panic, Nella accidentally snaps the doll’s hand off. Nella debates how the spores came to be. Just as the mark on the Rezeki figure’s head, she is unsure if they were a detail she previously missed, or an entirely new development. Nella looks through Smit’s List and reexamines the miniaturist’s listing. She notices it mentions a clockmaker that the miniaturist apprenticed with, and writes a letter to him, begging for information...