The administrator would not confirm that the woman was there.
Bram had expected resistance, but Eli saw the effort it cost him not to reach immediately for the route reference in his pocket. The record gave them a possible match under another name. It did not give them a right to announce that match in a waiting room full of patients and relatives.
Tessa put the offered message on the administrator’s desk without naming the missing woman aloud.
“You can convey this without telling us whether the record concerns the person we’re seeking,” she said.
The administrator kept his hands folded. Behind him, a door led into the restricted part of the ward. Each time someone passed through, Eli caught a glimpse of a second corridor and the chairs set beside it. The lock made a quiet sound when it closed.
“We have patient confidentiality rules,” the administrator said. “And security obligations.”
“Then the patient should be able to decide whether to receive contact under those protections.”
“I cannot allow unidentified visitors to approach a vulnerable patient.”
