“Did he drain the family estate account to come up with the five thousand?” I asked.

Arthur shook his head and picked the paper back up.

He went down the short hallway toward a bigger room at the back of the building.

I followed.

We stepped into a small conference room lined with bare bookshelves.

Arthur put a thick manila envelope in the middle of the wooden table.

He undid the metal clasp and drew out a stack of financial records three inches thick.

“The estate account has been empty since March,” Arthur said.