Before she became too ill to continue working, she copied everything and placed the originals somewhere secure.
At the bottom of the third page, Elena wrote:
Arthur, you once told me documents do not tell the truth by themselves. People have to put them in the right order.
Then came one final sentence.
Ask Mark why March 17 disappeared.
I read it three times.
Rachel looked at me.
“What happened March seventeenth?”
“I don’t know.”
“Think.”
I tried.
March had been difficult.
I had experienced severe fatigue, confusion, and several episodes when words seemed to vanish halfway between my mind and my mouth.
Daniel had begun attending more meetings.
Vanessa had returned to New York after years living mostly in Connecticut.
Mark had rearranged my schedule.
Gregory had started discussing “protective structures.”
March seventeenth.
Then something surfaced.
“A meeting,” I said.
“With whom?”
“I don’t remember.”
Rachel made a note.
