Those wants weren’t identical.

I sat outside the interview area with my hands empty.

For the first time since the marks appeared, I had no cup to inspect, no tray to watch, and no notebook to write in.

I had to let his words belong to him.

PART 4 — The Small Bottle

Dana did not bring Noah out and tell me she had solved the case.

She told me he had been able to describe a concern and that it would be assessed alongside the other information.