“She’ll be transferred to the women’s correctional facility in Columbus by the end of the week.”

Chloe picked up her leather briefcase and checked her watch.

“I have a ninety-day status hearing with Detective Frank Miller across the street,” she said.

“Call me if you need anything before noon.”

She walked out through the glass front door, leaving the certified settlement decrees neatly lined up beside my brass desk clock.

At eleven thirty, the reception door chimed, and Brenda Cole came into the waiting room carrying a big cardboard box tied with pink yarn.

“I stopped by the laundry at the Crestview Hotel to return my spare keys,” Brenda said, setting the box on the glass coffee table.