So she cashed the check. So what?

Quick update to the story of fracking baron Harold Hamm, his ex-wife and their billion-dollar dispute: Sources from USA Today to JDJournal to Reuters are reporting today that “the case may be over” because Sue Ann Arnall has cashed the $975 million check Hamm wrote her on Monday. That was one day before the couple returned to county court in Oklahoma to battle over whether the November award in their divorce action was too high (as he said), too low (as she said) or juuusssttt right (as the judge said once again at Tuesday’s hearing).

Arnall refused the check before Tuesday’s hearing, and Hamm’s divorce attorney, for one, told Reuters he believes her decision to deposit it now marks the end of Arnall’s efforts to appeal. That’s certainly one way to view it, but it does come bathed in a certain rose-tinted penumbra, doesn’t it?

Another way to view it would be as a down payment on the more equitable award Arnall says she deserves. As of this writing, Arnall, who is an attorney, economist and businesswoman, hasn’t said either way.

Under the circumstances, it seems a bit odd to take the word of her ex-husband’s divorce attorney.