I had a vague picture of pawn shops from films, which is a counter and a bell and a man with a loupe, and which is about forty years out of date.

Here is how it actually works, and it is the engine of this entire story, and almost nobody knows it.

When you pledge or sell an item at a licensed pawnbroker in this state, the broker is required by statute to take a government-issued photographic identification, record the number of it, record your name, address and date of birth, take a thumbprint, describe the item with every serial number on it, and have you sign a declaration that the property is yours.

You must be eighteen.