Even after death, Arthur seemed to know when I was making life harder than it needed to be.

PART 9

Mr.

Bennett gathered us at his office the following Thursday.

He had hired an independent accountant to reconcile the cash with Arthur’s known accounts and land-sale proceeds, and he wanted the inventory recorded before anyone could claim that bills had disappeared.

The accountant wore cotton gloves only when handling fragile papers, not the currency, and treated the suitcase with unsentimental efficiency.

She photographed the contents, noted the band dates, and counted each bundle under a second person’s observation.