Luca reached for the page, but Stein stopped him with two fingers on his wrist.

Sofia studied the signature while the room waited.

She asked whether Enrico had brought the original or only another clean copy.

Enrico said the original was protected.

She said men who forged one original usually protected it from comparison.

Then she looked toward the doors and raised her voice just enough.

She said the council did not need to argue over the handwriting of a frightened patient.

She said they could ask the physician who claimed she had signed it.

Luca asked whom she meant.

Sofia kept her eyes on Enrico.

She said Doctor Victor Hale had landed in Chicago that morning.

She said he was waiting under guard in the service corridor because he had asked to speak before Enrico could speak for him.

Enrico’s confidence broke for one visible second.

Sofia placed her palm flat on the forged authorization.

Then she told the council to bring Hale in.