Stevens shut the cardboard file and locked it in a steel drawer behind his desk.

“The children are now fully protected under state trust law.”

I left the bank at noon and drove two miles east to the real estate brokerage near the county line.

Realtor Pamela was waiting behind a wide oak desk covered in printed property maps and listing sheets.

She had worked in Oakridge for twenty-two years and knew every commercial and residential lot in the area.

“Sandra sent the appraisal file over this morning,” Pamela said, sliding a three-ring binder toward me.