She gave a sad, empty laugh.

“In six years of working at that hospital, I’d never missed a single scheduled shift.”

Carmen explained that the first time she saw Brian, at the board hearing in December, she had screamed at him in the parking garage and blamed him for her son’s death.

“Three days later, he showed up at my apartment with three boxes of groceries, sat down on my couch, and told me what really happened in that room.”

Her eyes filled with tears as she looked at me across the table.