The loan officer still works there.”

I wrote that down and drew two lines under the name.

At half past one I was standing at the notary registry counter in Hartford next to a state investigator, with a foam wedge holding open the logbook for October 2021.

The investigator ran a finger down the column.

“Here’s the entry,” she said.

“Samantha Palmer.

October twelfth.”

I leaned over the page.