I carried the plates out to the corner booth, set them down without shaking, and picked up four greasy dollar bills from the Formica tabletop.

“Jeff stopped by at six in his propane delivery truck,” Patty said when I walked back to the pass-through window.

“Bought two ham sandwiches on credit and said his delivery hours got cut again.”

I pulled two paper napkins from the metal dispenser and wiped a ring of black coffee off the countertop.

“Did he mention his mortgage payment?” I asked.

“Said Ron and Judy paid his April property taxes,” Patty said.