The prosecutor’s criminal petition sat open on the blotter next to a black ballpoint pen.

To the left of the packet lay the court restitution agreement, which ordered all forty-two thousand of my dollars returned within thirty days.

I read clause nine four times over without putting a single mark in the margin.

The clause spelled out the complete forfeiture of Bob’s thirty-year hardware pension and the immediate forced sale of his store stock.

If I signed line B, he’d have no monthly income and no retirement money for the rest of his life.

If I checked line A, the county would see that my stolen inheritance was paid back in full but would leave his basic store pension alone.