Twenty-three people sat in those desks, their faces pale and tired in the morning light that filtered through the high transom windows.

A young woman with dark hair sat at a small desk near the center, her hands resting on the keys of a stenograph machine.

The prosecutor, a tall man in a navy suit, stood near a podium with a stack of blue folders.

“State your name for the record,” the prosecutor said, pointing toward a small wooden witness stand.

“Mara Bell,” I said.

“Are you related to Caleb Whitmore, the individual currently held in connection with the disappearance of Elise Porter?”