When My Son Reported a Theft, I Went Looking and Found the Real Ledger in Our Dallas Office

“Valerie, from accounting?”

“Yes,” Rebecca said.

“Valerie held your stainless steel travel thermos by the handle while Garrett unscrewed a little gray dropper bottle.”

I pictured the clear, oily film I’d seen floating on the black coffee behind the crane tire three mornings earlier.

“What did they do with that bottle?” I asked.

“Garrett put eight drops into the coffee grounds before he flipped the brew switch,” Rebecca said.

“Valerie was laughing.