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Mrs Brunswick clicked back in "Miss Millhone, I'm not certain what the problem is, but we do show a cash deposit to this account nuht-deposit slot and posted over the weekend"

"You still have one of those night-deposit slots?" I asked with amazement

"At our don branch, yes," she said

"Well, there's soht-deposit slot I use my twenty-four-hour instant teller card if I need to transact bank business after hours What do we do now?"

"I can track down a copy of the deposit slip," she said skeptically

"Would you do that, please? Because I didn't make a deposit of any kind last Friday and certainly not five thou-sand dollars' worth Maybe somebody transposed so, but theto me"

She took et back to me I could tell I was in for countless phone calls before the correction could be ainst that five grand?

I went back to the task at hand, wishing I feltaround The file on the fire claim at Wood/Warren had actually come into my hands four days before, late Thursday, the 23rd I'd been scheduled to have a farewell drink with my landlord, Henry Pitts, at four, and then take hi back to Michigan to spend the holidays with his fa into their nineties with their vigor and good spirits still in evidence Henry's pushing eighty-two, a mere kid, and he was about as excited as one at the pros-pect of the trip

I was still at the office that afternoon with ht up and some ti off to ht at the V of Pacific Ocean visible at the foot of State Street, ten blocks down This is Santa Teresa, California, ninety-five rand affair, full of sunshine and entle winds, and palulls as they wheel overhead

The only signs of Christ the main streets The stores, of course, were packed with shoppers, and there was a trio of Salvation Ar away at "Deck the Halls" In the interests of feeling jolly, I thought I'd better work out y for the next two days