Nguyen Company’s insurance agent requires an estimate of the cost of merchandise lost by fire on March 9. Merchandise inventory on January 1 was $70,000. Purchases since January 1 were $170,000; freight in, $15,000; and purchase returns and allowances, $10,000. Sales are made at a gross margin of 20% of sales and totaled $200,000 up to March 9. What was the cost of the merchandise destroyed?