The state prosecutor set a cardboard box on his table and lifted out a silver hard drive in a plastic sleeve.

Masking tape on the sleeve said Exhibit Fourteen in black marker.

Evelyn sat at the defense table in a navy suit.

She looked at me once, the way you look at a chair you’ve already decided to move.

Five of her daughters filled the row behind her.

The sixth seat stayed empty.

“All rise.”

Judge Edward Ross came in without hurrying, sat, and set his glasses on the bench like a man who intended to stay a while.