Symphony of Secrets

This chapter is told from Josephine’s perspective. She is grateful to Freddy for giving her a place to live. She also thinks about her “Compendium,” which is her term for the pages written in her own system of musical notation. The world’s sounds are classified into notes, indicating her perfect pitch, and they represent specific feelings in those moments. Now, she has breakfast with Freddy, and then plays the piano. As they ride the subway, Josephine allows Freddy to see her write in her Compendium, and she explains her notations.

In Ditmars & Ross, Josephine continues to transcribe the sounds of the world around her on the pages of the Compendium. As she listens to the music in the office, she thinks about traveling by train from Oxford, North Carolina to New York City. The city offers the music she wants to hear. Josephine retrieves files for Ditmars and writes in the Compendium about Miles Turpin, another pianist in the office. She has to stop her notations to clean up around the office, and she feels gratitude for Freddy as she does so.