Under them was a thick stack of manila folders tied together with heavy red butcher’s twine.

I undid the knot and spread the papers out on top of an upside-down wooden crate.

The first letter was on official letterhead from Frank’s real estate development company, dated six months earlier.

It put Lauren’s personal debt at ninety thousand dollars, broken into private loan notes with monthly penalty charges.

The fourth document was a handwritten note from Lauren to Frank, dated three weeks before my trip.

“Claire confirmed her logistics conference in Columbus,” Lauren had written in her loose, slanting hand.