“The carrier stamped it on the fifteenth,” the clerk said.

Caroline placed the green envelope into her leather shoulder bag and turned toward the glass door.

“Thank you,” she said.

She stepped out into the cold autumn air of Cranston, holding her bag close against her coat.

At half past one, Caroline sat in the narrow wooden chair beside the records desk at the Cranston health clinic.

Dr.

Martha Vance pulled a heavy blue folder from the metal filing cabinet behind her desk.

“Your chart updates from Monday look solid,” Dr.