They did it because they could find no living relatives, no missing-child report matching him, and no other adult willing to claim him.

He was, as far as the system could tell, a child from nowhere.

The first afternoon he came into my house, he did something that broke my heart before I understood it.

He did not ask where the bathroom was, or whether he could watch television.

Instead, methodically, he checked every exterior door — touched each frame with his small palm, tested whether the handles unlocked from the inside.

He was, I realized, making sure he could get out.