Kurt looked at me for a long moment, then slowly closed his wallet and tucked it back into his coat.

“Arvid was a good man,” Kurt said quietly.

“We thought of him every time we walked up that hill.”

“I know you did, Kurt,” I said.

We shook hands in the parking lot, his bare hand rough and cold in mine, and then he opened his truck door and climbed in.

I went back up the concrete steps into the building and opened the door to Patricia’s conference room.

Brad was still seated at the dark oak table.