At eight o’clock Tuesday morning I drove to Heckert Auto Repair.

The fall air was crisp, and the sun hung pale behind the shop roof.

I didn’t go in through the front customer door.

I went around to the side door by the service bays, holding a blue vinyl binder against my coat.

Dale Heckert stood by the vehicle hoist with a torque wrench in his left hand.

His leather belt buckle lay straight against his dark work pants.

I put the blue binder on the greasy wooden workbench beside the tire balancer.