Thirty-Nine Million Dollars and a Brown Folder on the Kitchen Table

It looked like it had been bought at an office supply store that morning.

The columns were filled with very neat handwriting.

They listed specific dates, vendors, and exact dollar amounts.

Ranata had drawn a red line under the final total for each year.

She had even added fake check numbers in the margins.

There was a line for winter heating oil in November.

There was a line for a broken baler axle in July.

There was an entry for four thousand dollars to fix a collapsed barn roof that had never actually caved in.