“He just wants to confirm a few details,” she said quietly.

By two in the afternoon, the main office at Shoreline Middle School smelled of cafeteria steam, damp paper towels and fresh floor wax.

Teacher Valerie Thorne sat behind the counter with a silver ballpoint pen pinched between both thumbs while a student helper stacked attendance slips.

Lieutenant Easton Wyler stood beside the wooden filing cabinet in a pressed Navy service dress uniform with crisp gold sleeve stripes.

He looked at his gold wristwatch, tapped its glass twice with his forefinger, and glanced toward the front entrance.