For four years I had heard different versions of the same warning: be patient, be realistic, learn to accept what happened.

Opal rested one hand on her cane.

“Russell’s asking what makes a strong case, not whether you deserve one.”

I sat down again.

“I kept paper copies of vendor agreements and bank reconciliations,” I said.

“Some of the original purchase orders were signed by me.

The disputed ones weren’t.

Before my arrest, I mailed a box to a storage unit in my maiden name.”