The Photograph of a Newborn in a Yellow Knitted Hat

“She had an adoption petition,” I said, setting the manila envelope beside his green blotter.

“Petition,” Arthur repeated.

He held the glasses up to the ceiling light, tilting his head to check the corners of the frames for lint.

“It listed no father, and there was no judge’s signature on the back,” I said.

“Signature,” Arthur said.

He put his glasses back on, hooked the wire stems behind his ears, and slid open the top middle drawer of his desk.

He lifted out a heavy glass candy jar and set it on the blotter between us.