I had to consult my notes to confirm it.
The realization startled me.
I once believed the memory would remain sharp forever.
Its edges were beginning to soften.
I did not interpret that as disloyalty to the workers or indifference to what Allison had done.
It meant my mind had room for other things.
I cooked dinner and called my father to discuss a leaking faucet.
He told me to replace the worn washer before buying an entirely new fixture.
I followed his advice.
The faucet stopped dripping.
I made a note on the calendar to check it again in a month.
I was building a life of small promises I could actually keep.
Chapter 29: The Blue Envelope
The blue tape had a purpose that none of us recognized at first.
Esther had used a numbered archival system to identify original containers.
Each roll carried microscopic repeating marks purchased from a specialty supplier.
Mayfield explained that the marks were not intended to stop theft.
They helped the printing company distinguish authentic source files from later reproductions.
Nora arranged for a neutral document examiner to compare the strip on my package with a surviving strip from another archival carton.
She warned us that the result would show a possible connection, not identify the person who moved the missing records.
I called the delivery service and asked for its ordinary shipment information.
The package had been deposited at a parcel counter by someone using a business account in Rachel’s mother’s name.
Rachel said she had not used that account since the funeral.
The store preserved its recordings after receiving a proper request from Daniel.
We later saw that the sender was a woman wearing a winter hat and carrying a canvas messenger bag.
Her face was partly visible, but none of us recognized her.
Rachel initially accused Preston of sending an employee.
Nora again urged patience.
The woman’s identity mattered because she had handed over copies Rachel did not know existed.
If she was protecting records, she might be in danger.
If she was participating in a scheme, we needed to understand which part.
I left the office with an uncomfortable feeling.
It was possible someone had been trying to warn me for weeks, while I had been busy blaming banks and blaming myself.
The woman had been within reach, across a parcel counter, and I had never known her name.
Chapter 30: The Two Calendars
Grace discovered that several critical dates appeared on two different calendars.
