Caelin's office sent him three clean statements, and he hated all of them.
That counted as progress.
The first statement said the authority code left the public's right to transparency intact. Legal liked that one because every word wore gloves.
Caelin deleted it before his aide finished explaining the review chain.
The second said no conclusion had been reached regarding B.H.'s identity. He almost kept it. The sentence had the right shape for an office under pressure. It sounded measured, careful, and empty enough to survive being quoted by people who had already decided the truth.
Then he saw what the public would do with the first half.
No conclusion.
They would crop it, frame it, and use it as permission to keep digging.
He deleted that one too.
The third statement said officials were monitoring the situation. Caelin stared at the line until embarrassment did what courage kept trying to turn into policy.
"Delete that before Legal learns I saw it."
