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

“Every last one,” Valerie said.

“The digital ledger shows the entry, but the paper backup was missing until an hour ago.”

Valerie handed me a small square paper stub from the bottom of the mail pile.

I held the slip up under the bright ceiling light.

It was a missing payroll authorization stub dated eight months earlier, with Rebecca’s initials stamped right across the bottom line in dark red ink.

“Where did you find this stub?” I asked, looking up at her.