The consultation records arrived three days later in a locked folder. I was given access in the palace reading room. Lady Vale sat beside me while I compared the documents with the public summary.
The public summary claimed that residents had raised no objections to the relocation site. The meeting notes recorded a woman asking whether the access road flooded. The answer in the official minutes was "No concerns noted."
The woman's name was Ruth Bell.
I called her from the palace office. "Do you remember asking about the road?"
"I remember the room laughing when I said it," Ruth replied. "I remember a man telling me the road was fine."
"Did you receive a response?"
"No."
I looked at the notes. "The minutes say there were no concerns."
"Then the minutes are lying."
I asked her to se
