Forty thousand dollars for the property, he said, because he needed cash immediately.”

I looked up.

“That was his asking figure?”

“Yes.

It wasn’t an appraisal or a completed sale.

There are debts and other matters to examine.”

I did not know yet about the full forty-thousand-dollar business debt later found in the records.

At that moment, I knew only that Arthur wanted money quickly while his lawyers and the investigators were asking questions.