She wanted me to carry it back to Brooke.”

Arthur’s mouth tugged to one side.

“Then tell Brooke to put whatever she has somewhere with a lock only she has the key to.

And to make copies first.”

He pulled the pad back toward him, wrote the figure again in the bottom corner in block numbers, and pressed harder on the last three digits than on the first three.

“What if Brooke has already given it to someone?” I asked.