Jude Hospital,” I said.

“We need the certified registry from the basement archive.”

By one fifteen that afternoon, the archive room in the hospital basement was silent except for the low hum of the fluorescent tubes overhead.

Sam sat at a heavy oak table, sorting manila folders into three neat columns by date.

He reached up and adjusted his wire-rim glasses with his middle finger.

“The birth records from eight years ago are on microfiche, Mrs.