I turned without touching the paperwork on the counter and walked straight out the glass door into the chilly morning air.

By one o’clock, I was sitting across from Martha Gable in her strip mall law office, which smelled of dry paper folders and lukewarm tea.

Martha laid the faxed copy of the November fourth bank withdrawal slip flat on her oak desk and smoothed it with her palm.

“The slant on the capital A matches the signature on your state tax forms,” Martha said, adjusting her wire-frame glasses.

“I was nowhere near First Missouri Bank on November fourth,” I said, resting my hand protectively on my bump.