He leafed through the copies of the ER admission records I’d brought in my purse.

His fingers were long and blunt, moving steadily from page to page without snapping the paper.

“The welt on her temple is documented here,” Marcus said.

“What’s on the second page?”

“The triage nurse photographed her upper arm,” I said.

“There was a dark oval bruise under her sleeve.”

Marcus tapped the blunt end of his red pen on the corner of his desk blotter.

“The hospital’s medical examiner noted that mark as consistent with an earlier pinch by adult fingers three or four weeks ago,” Marcus said.