By eight o’clock the next morning, the hotel business center was empty except for Brenda Kowalski.

She was sitting at a glass desk surrounded by yellow legal pads, a half-eaten bagel, and two open ring binders.

“I pulled the archived file from May 2020 like you asked,” Brenda said, setting a gray paper folder down near the printer.

“The academy kept every digital registration audit from that spring.”

I opened the folder.

Inside, a brass clip held three sheets of paper together.

The top page was my original request for four guest passes to the parade grounds.