And then there was a second round in February, after Everett “extended” the leave and told people the treatment wasn’t working. That one raised another six thousand and change, and Dolores does not know from how many, because by then it was being handled less formally.

Twenty thousand dollars.

“How did people give it?” I asked, and my voice was doing something.

“All sorts. Some wrote checks — mine, and I know of at least four others. Some did the app. A lot of people did cash, because he said the checks were a hassle to deposit from out of state, and there was an envelope on Marisol’s desk for about three weeks.”

“And nobody ever asked what happened to it.”

“We asked all the time,” Dolores said. “For about eight months we asked constantly. And then he was fired, and there were rumours he’d stolen from the company, and — Stella, I need to tell you what most people concluded, because it’s not flattering to anybody.”