And that wave, I would learn over the following months, was the door left open a crack, the invitation, the place where the long work of bringing him back to himself could begin.

He waved at me.

It was the bravest thing I have ever seen a person do.

Chapter 5 — Presumptive Identification

That evening, sheriff’s deputies came, and then child protection workers, and they questioned me for hours.

Where had I been.

Who could verify it.

Why had my neighbor received a note in my handwriting.