He blew through tens of thousands of dollars before Beatrice even found out.”

“She stopped him?” I asked.

“How could she stop him if it was his money?”

“She hired me,” Arthur said.

“We dragged your father into county court and filed an emergency injunction.

We argued that he was recklessly endangering the welfare of a minor child.”

I looked at the stack of papers in the cookie tin.

Dozens of pages, all typed on old typewriter ribbon, documenting a brutal fight.