Claire stared at the wall.

I said nothing.

Evan went on, his voice dropping lower with every word.

“I met Claire at a county filing workshop last year. She said her husband had died in a crash three years ago, but the house had been tied up because some paperwork was never cleaned up after the estate. She said she was trying to fix it so she could finally move on.”

He looked at me, and the shame deepened.

“I believed her.”

I could hear my own pulse.