Marcus had included it with a brief note: Retrieved from a source inside CPS. This was attached to the welfare concern filed in the fall, approximately four months after Sophia Carter's death. I thought you should see it.

I looked at the photograph.

It was a school picture. One of those generic ones taken against a sky-blue background, the kind every school takes in September where the kids sit up straight and try to look presentable. Lena was seven. She was wearing a dark blue dress with a white collar, very neat, very carefully put together. Her hair was brushed. She was looking directly at the camera.

She wasn't smiling....