He stood beside me in his heavy dark canvas coat, rubbing his knuckles with his right thumb as he waited.

Officer Miller leaned toward her screen and typed in the four digits.

Her monitor flickered behind a sheet of tinted acrylic fixed to the edge of the counter.

“There’s an active intake file logged for your home address on Maple Lane,” she said.

“When was it opened?” I asked.

My hands lay flat against the edge of the laminate counter.

“It came in through the state portal on the twenty-fourth of last month,” she said.