Our house was quiet except for the refrigerator motor and a car passing outside.

I opened the first page and found a copy of an emergency-room admission record.

The patient was female, approximately thirty-five, with a head injury and multiple fractures.

Under next of kin, someone had crossed out Daniel Walsh’s name in blue ink.

The next document was a typed letter bearing the signature of an attorney named Preston Hale.

It informed Miriam that her daughter had died after a traffic collision and offered assistance with funeral arrangements.

I searched for my own name.