I reached down and pulled open the bottom drawer of his walnut roll-top desk, easing the brass ring handle out an inch at a time so the wooden runners wouldn’t squeak in the dark.

Inside were three green paper file folders, two spare truck keys on a brass ring, and a thin white envelope bearing the gold logo of Miller Jewelers on Main Street.

I slid the white envelope out from under the thick bank folders and pulled out the folded register receipt inside.

It was dated November second, just two days earlier, for exactly four thousand two hundred dollars, paid in full.

The itemized description listed a sixteen-inch strand of matched cultured freshwater pearls with a platinum bow clasp.