I thought I had the whole thing.

A sad man, a beautiful reason, a manipulation he had apologized for, a records office, four books, and a word printed beside his name.

I had about five weeks of thinking that.

Part Twenty-Seven: The Twenty-First of February

The envelope was window-fronted and it came from a collections agency in Iowa and it was addressed to:

ESTATE OF WALTER A STRAND, c/o HANNAH M DOERR, SPOUSE.

Forty-one thousand three hundred and eighty dollars.