“He spent three hours in the back room going through the 2000 adoption ledgers.”

“Did you get a look at his face?”

Martha lifted her key ring and pressed it tight against her cotton sweater.

“He went out the fire exit before I could ask to see his identification card.”

“Did he take anything else out of the file?”

“The whole birth registration index for spring 2000 is missing,” Martha said, gazing down at the glowing screen.

“Sixteen years of foster intake notes, wiped clean out of the system.”