“Then we’d consider what’s appropriate.

Not before.”

He nodded.

The evidence did not vanish because an apology sounded different from an accusation.

The legal questions remained with the people responsible for addressing them.

I had no final conviction or custody judgment to announce to relatives, and I did not let their desire for a simple ending force one into existence.

Our immediate decisions were simpler.

There would be no unarranged visit.