diff --git a/.claude/skills/baton/hooks/ledger.py b/.claude/skills/baton/hooks/ledger.py
index 767ac18..e25dcf3 100644
--- a/.claude/skills/baton/hooks/ledger.py
+++ b/.claude/skills/baton/hooks/ledger.py
@@ -115,9 +115,15 @@ def lane_from_event(event):
     return {"subagent_type": subagent_type, "task_id": task_id}
 
 
+# The distinctive marker of a lane line — shared by lane_line() (writer) and lane_count() (reader) so the
+# close-out count is derived from the SAME lines it displays and cannot drift from them. No other line the
+# ledger writes (header, close-out, verdicts) contains this phrase.
+_LANE_MARK = "lane spawned:"
+
+
 def lane_line(lane, ts):
     tid = f" · task `{lane['task_id']}`" if lane.get("task_id") else ""
-    return f"- {ts} · lane spawned: `{lane['subagent_type']}`{tid}"
+    return f"- {ts} · {_LANE_MARK} `{lane['subagent_type']}`{tid}"
 
 
 # ---- Stop: idempotent closeout ------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -144,8 +150,28 @@ def sensitive_triaged(path=TRIAGED_SEAMS_PATH):
     return classes
 
 
-def lane_count(path=LANE_SPAWNS_PATH):
-    """How many real lanes the machine sidecar recorded this session (authoritative spawn count)."""
+def _own_lane_lines(ledger_path=LEDGER):
+    """How many lane lines ledger.py has written to its OWN trail this session — the count that MUST match
+    the lines shown directly above the close-out (they are literally those lines)."""
+    try:
+        return sum(1 for line in open(ledger_path).read().splitlines() if _LANE_MARK in line)
+    except OSError:
+        return 0
+
+
+def lane_count(ledger_path=LEDGER, spawns_path=LANE_SPAWNS_PATH):
+    """Lanes recorded this session, for the close-out. Reconciles TWO observers so the number is never
+    LOWER than the lane LINES printed right above it (the reported bug direction):
+      - ledger.py's OWN recorded lane lines (what the reader sees), and
+      - the forge-proof sibling ledger `lane_spawns.jsonl` (record_lane_spawn.py), which may hold spawns
+        seen when ledger's PostToolUse handler did not fire.
+    Returns the MAX. This fixes the real-test bug where reading ONLY the sibling ledger printed
+    "lanes recorded: 0" while ledger.py had just written N lane lines (the sibling had not fired): the count
+    is now never lower than the lines present, and a sibling-only observation is still not lost."""
+    return max(_own_lane_lines(ledger_path), _sibling_spawns(spawns_path))
+
+
+def _sibling_spawns(path=LANE_SPAWNS_PATH):
     try:
         return sum(1 for line in open(path).read().splitlines() if line.strip())
     except OSError:
diff --git a/.claude/skills/baton/hooks/ledger_test.py b/.claude/skills/baton/hooks/ledger_test.py
index 9dbd14b..baa18ef 100644
--- a/.claude/skills/baton/hooks/ledger_test.py
+++ b/.claude/skills/baton/hooks/ledger_test.py
@@ -141,6 +141,35 @@ def read_ledger():
     check("read_event normalization is dict-or-empty (non-dict -> {})",
           all(isinstance(x, dict) for x in [{}]), True)
 
+print("G. close-out count is derived from ledger's OWN lines — never contradicts them")
+with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as t:
+    # Run ONLY ledger.py (record_lane_spawn.py NOT involved), so lane_spawns.jsonl never exists and the
+    # count cannot borrow from the sibling ledger — exactly the real-integration-test scenario that
+    # printed "lanes recorded: 0" above N lane lines. Don't pre-seed lane_spawns.jsonl: the coupling
+    # must not be able to hide.
+    lanes = ["triage", "implementer", "code-reviewer"]
+    for lane in lanes:
+        subprocess.run([sys.executable, LEDGER_PY],
+                       input=json.dumps({"hook_event_name": "PostToolUse", "tool_name": "Task",
+                                         "tool_input": {"subagent_type": lane}}),
+                       capture_output=True, text=True, cwd=t)
+    subprocess.run([sys.executable, LEDGER_PY], input='{"hook_event_name":"Stop"}',
+                   capture_output=True, text=True, cwd=t)
+    body = open(os.path.join(t, ".agents", "runs", "ledger.md")).read()
+    check("only ledger.py ran -> no sibling lane_spawns.jsonl",
+          os.path.exists(os.path.join(t, ".agents", "runs", "lane_spawns.jsonl")), False)
+    check("3 lane lines written", body.count("lane spawned:"), 3)
+    check("close-out count MATCHES the 3 lines (no 0-vs-N contradiction)",
+          "lanes recorded this session: 3" in body, True)
+with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as t:
+    # Reconciliation: a sibling-only observation (ledger's PostToolUse didn't fire, but record_lane_spawn
+    # did) is still counted — never lower than either source.
+    os.makedirs(os.path.join(t, ".agents", "runs"))
+    seed_jsonl(os.path.join(t, ".agents", "runs", "lane_spawns.jsonl"),
+               [{"subagent_type": "s1"}, {"subagent_type": "s2"}])
+    os.chdir(t)
+    check("sibling-only spawns still counted (max of both sources)", L.lane_count(), 2)
+
 if failures:
     print(f"\nLEDGER SELFTEST FAILED ({failures})")
     sys.exit(1)