“Checking the final guest list?”

“I have four tickets assigned,” I said.

“I just want to make sure my mother has her front-row clearance.”

The adjutant sat behind a wide metal desk on the second floor of the administration building.

A stack of blue manila folders covered his leather blotter.

He typed a twelve-digit passcode into his keyboard and brought up the master graduation ledger.

“Candidate Morgan,” the adjutant said.