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

Arthur leaned forward and squinted at the top page.

“You’ll see I paid cash for a new tractor alternator last May,” I said.

“You won’t see any deposits from Ranata.”

“You’ll see my property taxes cleared the county office in full every single December,” I said.

“You can call the county assessor yourself in the morning and ask.”

Arthur turned to the second page.

His eyes moved down the columns of numbers.

“These are just pieces of paper,” Arthur said.