“The state adoption bureau has processed the records request,” he said.

I leaned forward on the vinyl chair, my fingers going straight to the silver filigree locket under my collar.

“Did they find my original birth certificate?”

“No,” Arthur said.

“The original paper file burned in the county hospital fire in November 2000, exactly like the index said.

But there’s an internal tracking note attached to the archive jacket.”

He turned the document so I could read the faint red ink along the top margin.

“What does Vanguard Global mean?” I asked him.