The clerk checked the lower corner.
“Initials only.”
“Whose initials?”
She hesitated.
“I can tell you what the record says. I cannot tell you why it says it.”
Caroline looked at me.
“That is enough for now.”
I watched her place the page back in the folder.
“Do you have the original entry for October 28?”
The clerk nodded.
“Then we need that too.”
She reached for another drawer.
Caroline stopped her.
“Not yet. Leave the file sealed.”
The clerk pushed the drawer closed.
“Understood.”
We walked back to Caroline’s office with the folder between us.
The hospital parking pass in my coat pocket was stamped with October 30. I had carried it home without thinking about the date.
Now I took it out and placed it beside the visitor log.
Caroline looked at it.
“Keep that.”
“Why?”
“Because dates are becoming more useful than explanations.”
I slipped the pass back into my pocket.
At the door, Caroline glanced toward the records room.
“I need to check who requested that restriction.”
