Herbert hadn’t meant to do it, was his argument. There was no way to know that out of all the things that could have mattered, “not returning a library book” would have been the snag that kept him out of the afterlife. Surely everybody forgot those things sometimes. It wasn’t like he hadn’t returned it on purpose, or at least, not at first. OK, yes, when the library told him he was banned from the premises until he either returned the library book or paid to replace it, it’s true, he didn’t handle it all that well. Did he say “I have no recollection of even checking it out” on the phone while looking directly at the unopened book that was sitting on his coffee table—sure. And did Herbert, after that call, take some steps that were, in retrospect, more extreme than the situation really called for? Maybe.
But Herbert had been provoked. He’d reacted the way anybody would. It wasn’t like he couldn’t afford to pay, he explained to the angel. It was just the principle of the thing.
“What prin…