Mrs.

Albright took a green ledger sheet out of her desk drawer and pushed her glasses up her nose.

“You want a cashier’s check for exactly forty thousand dollars?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said. “Payable to the Ford County Treasurer.”

“Leaving how much in the account?”

“Five hundred and forty dollars.”

She typed into her computer, the heavy keys clicking in the quiet marble lobby.

A moment later, the blue printer behind her counter buzzed and pushed out a crisp rectangle of official check paper.