For Seven Years I Sent Forty Thousand Dollars Every January, Until Emma Finally Spoke

“The state always pulls the inspection tag on a fatal collision,” Howard said.

“It logs the exact mechanical condition of the vehicle at 11:42 p.m.

But here, the tag number is missing.”

I stared at the empty gray box on the page.

“Maybe it burned,” I said.

“Paper burns,” Howard said.

“Metal tags survive.

Someone took it out of the official log before the final binder was sealed.”