The initials beside those four entries matched the ledger Julian had shown her.
Emily pointed toward the discrepancy.
“Is that normal?”
Denise leaned forward without touching the paper.
“It can happen during emergencies,” she said.
“But there should be a follow-up report explaining where each child went.”
“Where is that report?”
“I can’t find it in the index.”
Emily asked Denise to look again.
The clerk spent almost twenty minutes searching paper inventories and an old backup database.
Finally, she found an entry titled Reconciliation of Minor Passengers.
The entry carried a red notation indicating withdrawal for correction.
No revised version was attached.
“Who withdrew it?” Emily asked.
Denise checked the audit field.
“Philip Stowe.”
Emily looked through the window at the courthouse steps.
A school group was gathering for a civic tour, their teachers counting heads before entering.
She wondered how many times Nora had counted the children in the shelter.
“Could you certify that this entry existed?” she asked.
“I can certify what the public index shows.”
Denise printed the entry and stamped it with the date.
“It doesn’t prove what was in the missing report,” she warned.
“I know.”
“Then don’t let anyone persuade you it does.”
The warning came with a glance toward the ceiling camera.
Emily thanked her and returned to Rosa’s apartment.
Julian was waiting outside with a sealed envelope.
Emily stopped several feet away.
“How did you know I was here?”
“Rosa told me she’d meet me at noon.”
“You could have called.”
“You’re right.”
He placed the envelope on the steps rather than walking closer.
“It’s a copy of the company’s liability notice, and I’d prefer you have it before you speak to anybody acting for us.”
Emily opened it while he waited.
The notice explained that Mercer Roadside Group had retained independent counsel to review historical records and that employees could preserve documents without submitting them to company management.
“Why are you telling me this?” Emily asked.
“Because Dad wants answers, and wanting answers isn’t the same as protecting the people who have them.”
“Does your father know you feel that way?”
“He does now.”
Julian glanced toward the street.
“I used to believe our family’s name meant we were entitled to trust.”
Emily folded the notice.
“And now?”
“Now I’m trying to earn less of it in advance.”
She appreciated the answer more than she wanted to admit.
It did not erase his company’s role in the original transports.
It meant she might be able to work with him without giving him control.
