“But doesn’t that mean he’s dead?”

“By all accounts, yes. But computer records have been known to be in error. Or to be falsified.”

She looked at me in disbelief. “Are you saying that—”

“I’m not saying anything. Your grandfather died. I just want to verify that before we proceed further.”

We took a car downtown and boarded a shuttle to Annapolis.

“Lauren left some water and a snack in our rooms,” I said after we took our seats. “Did you bring yours?”

She shook her head. I offered her a breakfast bar.

“I don’t want any. Thanks, though.”

“You didn’t have any breakfast before we left.”

She patted my knee. “I’m okay. Don’t worry.”

“Aren’t you hungry?”

She finally looked at me. “Creighton, I’m fasting.”

“Fasting? You mean…restricting your diet? That kind of fasting?”

“I’m not eating at all.”

“For how long?”

“A few days.”

“Abby, you can’t go without eating for a few days.”

She scrunched her nose and eyebrows together, looking cuter than I’m sure she meant to in the moment. “Of course I can. I’ve done it several times.”

“Why would you do that?”

“To combine with prayer about an important matter. To focus on God.”

“You think that if you go without food, God will give us the answer to what happened to Ray?”

She shook her head. “No. This isn’t a cause-and-effect thing. God isn’t obligated to do anything. I’m just fasting so I can hear him better.”

“And what have you heard?”

“Nothing. I just started this morning.”

I laughed aloud but quickly grew serious when Abby glared at me. No joking matter, I guessed. But this was so far outside the range of what I considered normal that it left me dumbfounded.

“All right. Fine.” I held up a water bottle. “At least have something to drink.”

She shook her head again. “Not now.”

“You’re fasting from water too? Abby, your body needs liquids to survive. You have to drink something.”

“I can hold out for a while.”

“Abby, this is—”

She held up her hand. “Creighton, I know you’re just trying to look out for me. I’ll be fine. I give you permission to hound me about it from time to time if you want.”

I looked into her eyes. “Okay,” I finally replied. “And I will hound you.”

“Okay.”

A woman greeted us from behind a counter in the State Records Building. We told her what we were seeking.

“Those records are available on the Grid. I can show you how to access them.”

“We’ve already accessed it on the Grid,” I replied.

She looked at me. “You have? Then why did you come here?”

“Because we want to see the physical copy. It’s our understanding that Maryland still requires a physical certificate to be signed and filed. Is that correct?”