I was standing behind the counter with a pen in my hand, trying to remember whether I had already signed the last invoice, when Claudia called my name from the front door. Her voice had that half-distracted tone she used when her hands were full. I looked up and saw her carrying the mail, a loose bundle of envelopes and a couple of small padded packages balanced against her hip.

She dropped them on the counter, muttering something about the delivery guy being in a hurry, and went back to ...