Kyle brought the box down, putting it on the floor behind the counter. He picked up the top two titles. One was an anti-government screed published by a far-right press that would appeal to almost no one, and the other was a common paperback romance worth almost nothing. Looking down into the carton, he saw more of the same.

“I’d like to help you,” he said. “But I’m not exactly flush myself and can’t offer you much.” He thought for a moment. “You know what, though? I have an idea. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but someone told me that Rollie Brown’s buying books to boost the stock in his new store.”

“I don’t think it’s even open, yet.”

“Maybe not, but he’s accumulating stock, and what I heard is that he’s trying to hurt my business by outbidding me. Word is that he’s trying to corner the market in Montgomery by offering twice what I’ll pay.” Kyle grinned. “By my estimate, you have about five bucks worth of books here. That’s what I’d offer you. But I’m going to give you a written estimate of fifty. You can take that to Rollie, see if he’ll fork over a hundred.”

Durl chuckled. “You think he’ll fall for that?”

“With his extensive knowledge of the book business?” Kyle’s grin widened. “I think he will.”

“If he doesn’t?”

“He’ll probably at least give you more than five bucks.”

“Well, it’s worth a shot.” Durl’s spirits sank as quickly as they’d risen. “I assume you saw the paper today?”

Kyle shook his head. “Paperboy didn’t deliver my copy this morning. I called to complain, and they said one would be delivered, but it still hadn’t been by the time I left. Why?”

Durl held out a copy of the Montgomery Gazette. “Read it.”

Kyle took the paper, scanning the front page. The top headline was once again about Victor Clark, who had apparently been transferred to the county’s main jail in Globe. “What am I looking for?”

“The full-page ad. Page three.”

Kyle opened the newspaper.

It was an ad in the form of a letter, one of those pretentious media buys big corporations made when they were caught doing something illegal and forced to apologize to their customers. This was no mea culpa, though. It was more of a triumphant announcement. With simple letters in bold Lucida Sans type, centered in the middle of the page, printed 26 point against a flat white background, the ad read:

Dear Montgomery Community Bank,