I brought the stamp down across the cover of the file.

The red letters pressed flat into the gray board.

PAID IN FULL.

The bank’s review wrapped up at twenty after eight in the morning, and the letter was on my desk before I even had my coat off.

Ruth had already opened it.

She has run my front office for eleven years and doesn’t stand on ceremony with any mail that starts with the word release.

“No corporate liability,” she said.