“What sort of legal hold?” I asked.

“An administrative freeze on every balance tied to Daniel’s name,” Martha said quietly.

“He locked your main checking account and the little savings reserve.”

“My pension check gets deposited into that checking account every month,” I said.

“How am I supposed to buy groceries?”

Martha reached under her counter and took out a narrow white bank receipt.

“He had me move the last fourteen hundred dollars into an escrow account that needs his signature alone.”

“So I’ve got nothing left in checking,” I said.