At 9:20, I put the deposit receipt on Marjorie’s desk.

There was a coffee mark near its corner.

I had unfolded it often enough that the crease was beginning to split.

She placed the contract beside it, then the printed correspondence the venue had supplied in response to the authorized request.

“First read it,” she said.

“Then we’ll discuss what it establishes.”

The email was dated January 29.

Elliott had asked whether one party could withdraw from the event and recover the portion of the deposit he considered his.