Afterward he said, “That was the first time someone actually thanked me for finding a problem.”

I thought about the records that had once sent me to prison, and how different my life might have been if someone had raised an uncomfortable question at the right moment.

“Keep doing it,” I told him.

PART 27

The local reintegration organization asked me to speak at a small gathering in the basement of a community center.

I nearly declined.

I was comfortable explaining invoices; speaking in front of people still made me remember the witness stand.