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That supposes that there is an understood referent. Book, thumb, and fault have been mentioned. If there is nothing previously defined, the possessive can be ambiguous.
In Copanut's original example, "How did Jerry beat us to the printer's?", there is no referent. I would omit the apostrophe.
You said "I would omit . . .", using a conditional, without telling us what the condition is. No understood referent, so your example is incomplete, with nothing previously defined. Raised by your own petard.
You said "I would omit . . .", using a conditional, without telling us what the condition is. No understood referent, so your example is incomplete, with nothing previously defined. Raised by your own petard.
It's a simple declarative statement. The first sentence in the paragraph is the referent.
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