She placed the October 9 night in its own section so it would not become mixed with the earlier October dates.

That corrected something I had already begun doing in my notes.

When I was tired, I wrote October 3 beside everything involving Evelyn.

It was the day the schedule changed, not the day I found Lily in the freezer.

Ruth crossed out the mistake once, preserving what had been corrected rather than quietly altering a saved record.

“The incident was October ninth,” she said.

“The third and sixth help establish the preceding arrangements.