Emily asked whether the absence of that form meant somebody had broken a rule.
Frances explained that missing paperwork alone could result from a filing error.
But when a record was altered after a guardian had been located, the concern was more serious.
She recalled a dispute with Raymond’s office over settlement eligibility.
A supervisor had argued that some families should accept relocation payments without reopening earlier guardianship decisions.
Frances refused to certify several incomplete files.
Soon afterward, those files were transferred to a different office.
She had not seen them again.
Simon asked whether she had reported the incident.
Frances produced a carbon copy of a memorandum addressed to the county director.
The memorandum requested a review of missing guardian confirmations.
No response appeared in her records.
Emily felt anger rise at the thought of the unanswered warning.
Frances placed a hand on the table.
“I tried to do the right thing, but trying is not the same as finishing,” she said.
She asked whether the families would finally be able to read the surviving files.
Emily said the archive was developing a process with privacy safeguards.
Frances nodded.
“Then make it simple enough that a tired mother can understand it,” she replied.
Chapter 32: The Board’s Private Dinner
Victor invited Arthur to a private dinner with three major foundation donors.
The invitation described the gathering as a family conversation.
Arthur asked Simon to review the guest list and learned that Celeste would attend as well.
He declined unless the purpose of the meeting was stated in writing.
Victor called him an hour later.
“Father, you cannot treat every invitation like a deposition.”
Arthur replied that dinner was a strange setting for negotiating access to public history.
Victor insisted that the donors were worried about the project’s financial future.
Arthur acknowledged that money mattered.
He asked whether the donors had been told the registry contained evidence about separated families.
Victor said they had received a summary.
Arthur suspected the summary had minimized the issue.
He requested a copy and found that it referred to the registry as a collection of routine administrative corrections.
Simon prepared a factual clarification with the historian’s approval.
Arthur sent it to each donor with an invitation to ask questions directly.
Two donors responded with concern and asked how they could support careful preservation.
The third withdrew a promised gift, citing potential reputational risk.
Victor called that withdrawal proof of Arthur’s mistake.
Arthur answered that a donor had the right to leave.
