You do not hear Ozias Ravensholt come into the kitchen; you notice him by the draught when the door closes.
"Eat something."
He puts the plate down where you can reach it and does not sit.
"Rook will ask and Emrick will push and neither of them will tell you the part that matters, so I will. If you want to leave the ridge, I will drive you to the station myself at five, and I will not tell them where you went until the train is gone."
He takes the folding knife out of his pocket, sets it on the table between you, and turns it so the handle is towards your hand.
"That is not a bargain. That is a timetable."
He goes back to the door and stands beside it, and he waits without asking for anything. Somewhere above you a floorboard takes the weight of somebody who is trying not to be heard, and Ozias hears it, and does not go up.