diff --git a/agent/finalize.go b/agent/finalize.go
index 1b5fd50..1d89bba 100644
--- a/agent/finalize.go
+++ b/agent/finalize.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package agent
 import (
 	"regexp"
 	"strings"
+	"unicode/utf8"
 
 	"gitea.stevedudenhoeffer.com/steve/majordomo/llm"
 )
@@ -190,7 +191,12 @@ func bareAbovePointer(t string) bool {
 	}
 	start := 0
 	if k := strings.LastIndexAny(t[:loc[0]], clauseBoundaryChars); k >= 0 {
-		start = k + 1
+		// k is the BYTE index of the boundary rune's first byte, and one of
+		// those runes is a 3-byte em dash — k+1 would slice into the middle of
+		// it and leave a stray continuation byte in the remainder, which then
+		// never trims away and makes a genuinely bare pointer look occupied.
+		_, w := utf8.DecodeRuneInString(t[k:])
+		start = k + w
 	}
 	rest := strings.TrimSpace(t[:start]) + " " + strings.TrimSpace(t[loc[1]:])
 	return bareRemainderRe.MatchString(strings.Trim(rest, pointerResidueCutset))
diff --git a/agent/finalize_test.go b/agent/finalize_test.go
index 821a3b7..7ba434d 100644
--- a/agent/finalize_test.go
+++ b/agent/finalize_test.go
@@ -146,6 +146,71 @@ func TestPointsAbove(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestBareAbovePointerOrientations is the anti-drift harness for the one rule
+// that kept coming back: a deictic pointer only makes a terminal disposable
+// when the pointer is ALL there is.
+//
+// Three consecutive review rounds found that rule broken in a DIFFERENT
+// orientation — content after the pointer, then content before it in the same
+// sentence — because each round's cases only covered the orientation that
+// round was about, and each fix was tested only in the direction I had just
+// thought of. Enumerating the placements is the fix a fourth patch would not
+// have been: every pointer form is now checked against every position content
+// can occupy, so a new pointer form or a new placement covers the whole grid
+// rather than one cell of it.
+//
+// The rule under test is a single line: bare IFF there is no content.
+func TestBareAbovePointerOrientations(t *testing.T) {
+	// Each pointer form, written so it reads naturally both as a whole
+	// sentence and as a trailing clause.
+	pointers := map[string]struct{ sentence, clause string }{
+		"demonstrative": {"That's the chain above.", "as shown above"},
+		"imperative":    {"See the note above.", "per the note above"},
+		"copular":       {"The breakdown is above.", "which is above"},
+	}
+	// Where the answer can sit relative to the pointer. "" = nowhere: the
+	// pointer is alone, which is the only bare case.
+	const answer = "Ship Tuesday"
+	placements := map[string]func(p struct{ sentence, clause string }) string{
+		"alone":                 func(p struct{ sentence, clause string }) string { return p.sentence },
+		"alone as a clause":     func(p struct{ sentence, clause string }) string { return p.clause },
+		"before, same sentence": func(p struct{ sentence, clause string }) string { return answer + ", " + p.clause + "." },
+		"before, own sentence":  func(p struct{ sentence, clause string }) string { return answer + ". " + p.sentence },
+		"before, own line":      func(p struct{ sentence, clause string }) string { return answer + "\n" + p.sentence },
+		"before, list item":     func(p struct{ sentence, clause string }) string { return "- " + answer + "\n- " + p.sentence },
+		"after, same sentence":  func(p struct{ sentence, clause string }) string { return p.clause + ", " + answer + "." },
+		"after, own sentence":   func(p struct{ sentence, clause string }) string { return p.sentence + " " + answer + "." },
+		"after, own line":       func(p struct{ sentence, clause string }) string { return p.sentence + "\n" + answer + "." },
+		"after a filler opener": func(p struct{ sentence, clause string }) string { return "OK. " + answer + ", " + p.clause + "." },
+		"filler then pointer":   func(p struct{ sentence, clause string }) string { return "OK. " + p.sentence },
+		"done-dash then pointer": func(p struct{ sentence, clause string }) string {
+			return "Done — " + p.clause + "."
+		},
+	}
+	// The only terminals with no answer in them.
+	bare := map[string]bool{
+		"alone":                  true,
+		"alone as a clause":      true,
+		"filler then pointer":    true,
+		"done-dash then pointer": true,
+	}
+
+	for pname, p := range pointers {
+		for placement, build := range placements {
+			t.Run(pname+"/"+placement, func(t *testing.T) {
+				in := build(p)
+				if !pointsAbove(in) {
+					t.Fatalf("setup is not a pointer at all, so the case proves nothing: %q", in)
+				}
+				want := bare[placement]
+				if got := bareAbovePointer(in); got != want {
+					t.Errorf("bareAbovePointer(%q) = %v, want %v", in, got, want)
+				}
+			})
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 func TestIsCitationsOnly(t *testing.T) {
 	cases := []struct {
 		name string